Butcher denies joining Indian Cricket League
Mark Butcher will be staying at Surrey
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Thursday, 23, Aug 2007 10:18
Former England batsman Mark Butcher has denied reports that he has agreed to join the lucrative Indian Cricket League (ICL).
The ICL has recruited superstars such as West Indian legend Brian Lara and Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf to take part in the Twenty20 league which kicks off in October.
Butcher, who played 71 Tests for England and famously scored an unbeaten 173 against Australia in the Ashes Test at Headingley in 2001, says he has had no contact with anybody involved with the ICL.
"I am slightly disconcerted to see my name attached to something that I know nothing about," said Butcher.
"The first I heard was driving to the ground and the Surrey chief executive phoned to ask what it was all about."
The ICL is seen as a breakaway league from Indian cricket and a fuming Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has warned that any of their players who join the ICL will be banned from playing for the national team and domestic cricket.
So far no English players have signed with the ICL and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have said that they are yet to decide on what they will do if any of their players decide to join the league.
An ECB spokesman said: "If county players sign, then that is the time we would look at the consequences.
"Our position at the moment is just that the Indian board say the event is outside their remit. In the real world, with all the litigation, it would probably be very difficult to stop anybody from returning here."