With the introduction of two new leagues -- UAE's International T20, Cricket South Africa (CSA) League – Cricket Australia (CA) have a tough challenge ahead of them. The UAE ILT20 poses a major threat as it will take place during Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL). After Australia’s star opener David Warner, big-hitter Chris Lynn has asked CA for No Objection Certificate (NOC) to participate in the league’s inaugural edition.
Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has backed Lynn to go and play in UAE ILT20 as he is not bound by any contract. Chappell feels that Lynn should take the Australian board to the court if he does not get NOC.
"To me, you then go back to the World Series Cricket days, where they took the board to court over restraint of trade. Is it a restraint of trade? "In Chris Lynn's case, if he hasn't got a contract with Cricket Australia or Cricket Queensland, what's to stop him? If I was Chris Lynn and I wanted to play in the UAE I'd take them to court. I don't think Cricket Australia would have a hope in hell.
"It's got to be a restraint of trade. You're not contracting him, but you're not letting him play either," Chappell was quoted as saying by 'Wide World of Sports'.
On the other hand, the 78-year-old is uncertain about the future of Test cricket with the introduction of new T20 leagues.
"(Test cricket) won't die in my lifetime. But who'll be playing it? That's the big question. If you haven't got your best players, is Test cricket worth watching? The answer is probably no. Test cricket is a good game, but it's got to be well played,” he opined.
"I don't think there's any doubt about that. For starters, if you're being realistic you can only play Test cricket between about eight teams.
"West Indies have got a problem because they can't afford to pay their players. Sri Lanka have a reasonable infrastructure but big political problems, and South Africa is similar. Whoever thought of giving Afghanistan and Ireland Test status is off their rocker. But you know why it's been done, it's so those countries get a vote.
"To me this whole issue has been coming for quite a while, and I have no sympathy for the administrators." Chappell, who captained Australia in 30 Tests, added, "I think a lot of the older players will get offers from that area, and that will be a real challenge for nations like Australia who have a lot of good players, and also for nations that can't afford to pay their players the best rates." “Then you've got the problem of the IPL franchises owning teams in different leagues around the world. If you've got a decent IPL contract and the choice is between Australia and your IPL franchise's UAE team, well are you going to put your IPL contract at risk?”
