New threat to world cricket is emerging

– The ICC is investigating the registration of company names which it regarded as of “concern to the sport of cricket” as reports of a rebel organisation which might split the game continued to emerge yesterday.

The Guardian newspaper reported last weekend that Indian media conglomerate, the Essel Group, had attempted to register the company name “Australian Cricket Control Pty Ltd” and had made similar efforts in other cricket-playing nations.

Owned by billionaire Subhash Chandra, the driving force behind the ill-fated rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL), Essel issued a statement this week saying they were “geared up to enter the sports

New Delhi

business at a global level, focusing on cricket”.

“The ICC is aware of certain recent registrations which are of concern to the sport of cricket, and the matter is under investigation,” an International Cricket Council spokesman said yesterday.

Whether it is merely an international Twenty20 league or a full- scale assault on the ICC’s governance, it is clear some challenge to cricket’s status quo is afoot.

Cricket Australia yesterday dismissed as “highly speculative” media reports that Michael Clarke and David Warner would be offered $40 million, 10-year contracts to play in a rebel league. – Reuters