Lalit Modi, the Champions League commissioner, has asked the England and Wales Cricket Board to make “minor adjustments” to their county schedule to enable English participation in the 2010 tournament but so far the ECB have not budged.
The ECB’s main grouse is that the dates coincide with the final two rounds of the County Championship as well as the semi-finals and final of a new 40-over league.
If this is not resolved soon, the West Indies could find themselves with an extra spot in the star-studded September 10-26 tournament as English teams may be ruled out.
“One team from the Caribbean took part in the last tournament and two came from England,” said a source with knowledge of Champions League developments.
“Even before the issue with the English domestic tournament dates, the officials were considering having two teams from the West Indies play in the 2010 tournament. It now seems very likely that this would happen.”
The tournament brings together the winners and the runners-up from the domestic T20 competitions played in the major cricketing nations of India, Australia, England, South Africa, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and West Indies.
Last year, Stanford Twenty20 champions Trinidad & Tobago were the only Caribbean team entered in the event and they upset the form books, playing unbeaten to reach the final before losing to Australian side New South Wales.
According to the source, T&T’s performance helped fuel the notion of a second Caribbean team in the tournament.
“What helped sparked the interest in having two West Indian teams in the tournament was the fact that T&T played very well at the last tournament, which gives an indication of the quality of the T20 tournament back in the Caribbean,” he said.
The West Indies Cricket Board are expected shortly to announce the dates for the domestic T20 competition.
Winners of the T20 Champions League collect US$6 million with US$2.5 million going to the runners-up.
