‘NOC clearance to play T20 tournaments could land cricket boards in legal trouble’

SYDNEY - International cricket boards risk ‘legal trouble’ if they join together to block uncontracted players from competing in domestic Twenty20 tournaments, Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) chief Tim May has warned.

May also slammed Cricket Australia (CA)’s view that any overseas player wanting to play in one of its competitions must possess a no-objection certificate from their home board.

“[Current regulations] cannot be relied upon when players don’t have a contractual relationship with a member board, or one of their domestic teams,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted May, as saying.

“Simply, the home board does not have any jurisdiction over the player, and if it refuses to grant a NOC, then we believe that board may face legal action for an unreasonable restraint of trade,” he added.is comment follows the dispute between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and three players over their refusal to accept central contracts.

Earlier, on Monday, the dispute escalated when Chris Gayle was stripped of the Test captaincy and Dwayne Bravo was removed as vice-captain, although the pair kept their places in the team.

The duo, along with Kieron Pollard, have rejected contracts from the WICB, seemingly because of a desire to have greater freedom to play in various countries’ domestic Twenty20 competitions, including the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Gayle and Pollard are contracted to Western Australia and South Australia respectively, while Bravo is believed to be keen on playing for Victoria again. (ANI)