Rebel Read turns back on England

Chris Read yesterday jeopardised his remote hopes of ever returning to the international arena when he joined three other former England players in committing himself to the rebel Indian Cricket League.

Read, 29, overlooked for England's Test tour of Sri Lanka, will accompany Paul Nixon, Vikram Solanki and Darren Maddy in the breakaway Twenty20 competition, a month-long tournament starting two weeks tomorrow which is a direct competitor to the officially sanctioned Indian Premier League.

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Players in the six teams can expect to receive at least £50,000 each. Nixon, Maddy and Solanki were never likely to be called up by England again.

Now Notts wicketkeeper Read, who has played in 15 Tests and 36 one-day internationals since his debut in 1999, seems to have conceded his time has gone even though his bete noire Duncan Fletcher has moved on as England coach.

Giles Clarke, the no-nonsense new ECB chairman, is concerned that the players should be associated with a competition which the Indian Cricket Board did their best to strangle at birth.

"We regard this as a very serious issue," said Clarke. "Selectors will be instructed to take into consideration the fact that these players have played in an unauthorised competition. You can draw your own conclusions."

There is another potential implication. Next season's county Twenty20 champions and runners-up will qualify to take part in the Champions League, along with teams from India, Australia and South Africa.

But if they include the outlaw players, they may be banned from a competition with a first prize of £1million.

Stuart Law, who was named as the new Lancashire skipper yesterday, will captain Read's team, the Chennai Superstars.

That means Lancashire, Notts, Leicestershire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire may all be under pressure to omit their players from domestic Twenty20 matches.