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ICL ban
Pothas fumes over 'ridiculous situation'
Cricinfo staff
June 11, 2008
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Nic Pothas: 'This is my job, and if someone tries to stop me working I would go to court'
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Nic Pothas, the Hampshire wicketkeeper-batsman who played in the Indian Cricket League earlier this year, has threatened to take legal action if he is barred from Twenty20 Champions League in case his team qualifies for the event.
"It is a ridiculous situation," Pothas told the Daily Telegraph. "What the Indians [referring to the Indian board] fail to acknowledge is that there are rules and regulations on this side of the world.
"We have rights as professionals and, if I needed to, I would seek redress through the law. This is my job, and if someone tries to stop me working I would go to court."
However, Lalit Modi, the commissioner of the Indian Premier League, and one of the key figures in the organisation of the Champions League, reiterated that county sides that field ICL players will not be able to take part in the tournament. "One of the rules for ICC tournaments is that players cannot appear in unofficial tournaments. That is that.
"We have all discussed this issue, and the boards know where they stand," Modi said. "New Zealand even went as far as dropping Shane Bond from their team because he played for the ICL, and there will be no exceptions made for English counties."
In case Pothas goes to court, he has the benefit of precedence: his fellow ICL players Andrew Hall, Justin Kemp and Johan van der Wath, had on April 30, won an appeal against an ECB block on them being registered to play in England this summer.
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