The Champions League, a proposed multi-nation tournament featuring top domestic Twenty20 teams, took a short step forward on Thursday with officials from India, South Africa, Australia and England wrapping up a "basic discussion" on the governing structure, prize money and regulations. With the league looming - it is slated to take place later this year - the officials will meet again next week for further talks, Cricinfo has learnt.
"There are still a lot of issues to be sorted out and we are meeting again next week to discuss that," an official who was part of the meeting told Cricinfo. "We are hopeful that we can hold the tournament this year but we will have to discuss this further."
Those who attended the meeting, held on the sidelines of the ICC annual conference here, are believed to include Lalit Modi, the BCCI vice-president and IPL chairman, Gerald Majola, the chief executive of Cricket South Africa (CSA), James Sutherland, the chief executive of Cricket Australia, and David Collier, the chief executive of the ECB, all representing their boards.
They did not discuss the issue of barring cricketers associated with the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL) from playing in the tournament but the BCCI - a prime mover of the Champions League - and Cricket South Africa are adamant about excluding such players.
The ECB, meanwhile, will continue to abide by the trade laws in England that have seen 15 of their 18 counties employing around 25 ICL cricketers this season - and which puts the ECB at risk of missing out on the Champions League.
Yet it does not appear unduly worried over that possibility because, according to a source, the ECB has been approached by "other parties" to take part in similar tournaments. The source revealed that Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, has received an "offer" with prize money that is "clearly more than what is being offered for the Champions League" from an UAE businessman to take part in a similar tournament "with other teams".
Significantly, Pakistani officials were not part of the meeting, though the BCCI had stated last month that Pakistan would be one of the participating teams. "All I confirm is that teams from India, Australia and South Africa are taking part. We will finalise the fourth nation or even a fifth in due course," the official said.
He did not mention England but the very fact that the four national boards who discussed the issue formally today included the ECB, following an agreement in principle among them in June, indicates that England is still very much in the frame.
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