Ricky Ponting says Cricket Australia should not attempt to make itssponsorship deals globally recognised if such a move would stop currentAustralian players joining the Indian Premier League
Brydon Coverdale in Sydney07-Feb-2008
Ricky Ponting wants the IPL to go ahead © Getty Images
Ricky Ponting says Cricket Australia should not attempt to make itssponsorship deals globally recognised if such a move would stop currentAustralian players joining the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Australianboard is concerned that its players might endorse products that clash withits own deals, as part of their IPL agreements.However, the IPL chairman Lalit Modi said the league would press onwithout Ponting and his men if Cricket Australia pursued worldwidesponsorship protection, and Ponting was not keen on that possibility.”There are already some globally-protected sponsors of Cricket Australia,there are a couple of them,” Ponting said.”I don’t think Cricket Australia would be able to make any of their othersponsors global sponsors … If they tried to do that I’m sure theplayers’ association would have something to say about it. It would be alittle bit unfair if that was the case.”Ponting and his team-mates stand to earn significant pay cheques forjoining the IPL and they would be understandably frustrated if theiragreements fell through. He saw no reason for Cricket Australia not toclear players to take part in the league.”It’s a domestic competition, as county cricket is,” Ponting said.”There’s never been any worry about Cricket Australia releasing guys to goand play county cricket. That’s the reason Cricket Australia backed it allin the first place, because it was a domestic tournament and it wouldn’tbe actually taking Australian players away from their domesticcompetitions or the Australian team.”However, the chances of seeing Ponting and his men representing IPLfranchises this year depend largely on whether Australia’s scheduled tourof Pakistan goes ahead, as the trip would clash with the Indiantournament. Ponting said with the exception of the retiring AdamGilchrist, who looks set to play, the Australians hadshelved all thoughts about the league for the time being.”I haven’t even thought about the IPL,” Ponting said. “We’ve had a lot onour plate over the last few weeks. The likelihood of us Australian playersbeing able to play this year anyway was pretty minimal. We’ll worry aboutall those other outside distractions, if you like, once this summer isover and done with.”