The battle between the Indian Cricket League and the Board of Control for Cricket in India had intensified with the BCCI having announced with much fanfare their own version of a cash-rich Twenty20 tournaments.And the Indian Premier League and the Champions League were touted to take the wind out of ICL’s sail.However, though having been forced to postpone their league to November, the ICL today announced that 18 players - six of them foreigners - have joined their ranks.The ICL already have Brian Lara and Inzamam-ul Haq in their league. The ICL prize purse is of $1m, while the IPL offers $3m and the Champions League is worth $5m.Players who signed today: •Chris Cairns, Chris Harris, Nathan Astle, Hamish Marshal (New Zealand), Darren Maddy (England), Azhar Mahmood (Pakistan).•Domestic: Abu Nechim, Amit Uniyal, Aniruddh Singh, Gaurav Gupta, Love Ablish, Mihir Diwakar, Rakesh Patel, Abid Nabi Ahanger, Kiran Powar, S Sriram, Pritam Das, Nilesh Kulkarni.Kapil Dev, chairman of the Executive Board, ICL, while announcing the signings, said:•“We are extremely pleased to welcome these players to the ICL family. These talented experienced cricketers will definitely be a great source of learning for the youngsters who will play with them. Under their guidance, the Indian Cricket League players will develop skills comparable to the best of international cricketing talent.“These signings are in line with our objective of providing the best platform for young cricketers from all corners of India to play alongside the superstars of International cricket, learn the tricks of the trade from them and gain confidence to excel.”Status of the international players who signed on Friday:•Chris Cairns, Chris Harris and Nathan Astle: All retired from international cricket.•Darren Maddy and Azhar Mahmood: In and out of their respective national teams.Domestic players:•Among those who signed on Friday, only Tamil Nadu’s S Sriram and Mumbai spinner Nilesh Kulkarni have played for India.Major set back for ICL:•On Thursday, Pakistan’s prolific batsman Mohammad Yousuf signed a central contract with the Pakistan Cricket Board. Yousuf had said he was not aware of any clause that said he had to give top priority to ICL even if Pakistan were playing international cricket. On Yousuf’s stand, Ashish Kaul, executive vice president of the Essel Group, said there was no reason to believe that Yousuf had turned his back on ICL and insisted he would turn up for the league scheduled in November.
