ICL players banned from county cricket
Bureau Report

LAHORE—Pakistan Cricket Board is set to block any of its players who have signed contracts with the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League from playing domestic cricket overseas.
As things stand, any player who wants to play abroad needs a No Objection Certificate from their home board. But a PCB source told that Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who recently signed for Yorkshire, would not be getting an NOC. “This is in line with our policy on the ICL,” the source said.
“All players who do sign up with it will not represent Pakistan or domestic sides in Pakistan and anyway, Rana was not a contracted player of the board.”
Perhaps the most high-profile case is that of Mushtaq Ahmed, who has been instrumental in Sussex’s success in the last five years and who is due to return to Hove next month. Although he was granted an NOC, he has since signed with the ICL. “We are considering withdrawing his NOC, because when we provided it to him last, it was a month and a half before he signed up with the ICL,” the spokesman said.
Yorkshire’s chief executive Stewart Regan said that the county had given Naved-ul-Hasan an ultimatum - will he take part in the ICL or will he play for Yorkshire? “If Rana takes part in the ICL, he will automatically forfeit his Yorkshire contract. What we don’t know is how much Rana is being paid by the ICL, or whether he has signed a legally-binding contract.”
A number of counties face starting the 2008 season without their high-profile overseas players after it was revealed that anyone who has signed with the breakaway Indian Cricket League is unlikely to be given the necessary clearance to play by their own boards.
Any non-English player needs a “no objection certificate” (NOC) from their home board before being allowed to play in England, and it is believed that several, including New Zealand Cricket and the Pakistan Cricket Board, are refusing to issue them. It comes as the leading boards adopt a hard line towards unauthorised tournaments.
Shane Bond, who signed with the ICL last November, in effect had his career ended by NZC as a result, but earlier this month he signed for Hampshire for the 2008 season. However, without the NOC he will not be allowed to play.
Cricinfo has learnt that Rana Naved-ul-Hasan has already been declined an NOC and it seems likely that others, such as Mushtaq Ahmed, will also be left out in the cold.
“We’re about to start the season and suddenly some counties will have to reconsider deals struck some time ago,” Paul Millman, Kent’s chief executive, told The Daily Telegraph. “It would have been good if a line could have been drawn, and any agreements made in good faith before that left alone.
I don’t think you should abandon contracts on a whim. But this is a complex situation.” Kolpak players, who do not need NOCs to play domestic cricket, will not be affected.