ICL threatens to take legal recourse

Mumbai/New Delhi, Oct 17 (PTI) A day after their talks with Board of Control for Cricket in India (B.C.C.I.) officials failed to make any headway, the rebel Indian Cricket League (I.C.L.) Friday made it clear that it would continue to seek recognition from the International Cricket Council (I.C.C.) and threatened to take legal recourse if the vexed issue was not resolved amicably.

Accusing the B.C.C.I. of taking a "rigid stand" during
the talks, the I.C.L. said it was looking at other available
options to achieve their objective of getting recognition from
the cricket's world governing body.

"The B.C.C.I. does not seem to be in the mood to resolve
the issue. We will continue to pursue our pending application
(for recognition) with the I.C.C. and all other options
available to us, including legal," a spokesperson for I.C.L.
told PTI.

Asked whether this means the I.C.L. was thinking of even
dragging the I.C.C. to court, the spokesperson said, "as of
now we have not taken a decision. We will figure it out."

Talks between officials of the B.C.C.I. and I.C.L. on the
latter's pending application for recognition to the I.C.C.
failed in New Delhi Thursday, leaving a question mark on the
possibility of the two bitter rivals reaching a common ground.

The two parties met following directives from the I.C.C.,
but failed to make any headway on the contentious issue.

"This morning there was a meeting at Delhi between
officials of B.C.C.I. and I.C.L. to see if there was any
common ground. The talks failed and there are no plans for any
further meeting," B.C.C.I. secretary N. Srinivasan said in a
terse press release Thursday.

I.C.L. Chairman Kapil Dev said he was disappointed by the
failure of their talks with the B.C.C.I. to gain recognition
for their Twenty20 league.

"Agar aap poochte hain toh dukh to hai. Hamaare paas 300
bachche hain par saamne wala (B.C.C.I.) baat hi karne ko
taiyaar nahi hai (If you ask, I'm of course disheartened. We
have 300 youngsters but the other party is not even ready to
talk)," said Kapil, who was not a part of the meeting with the
B.C.C.I. Friday.

A top B.C.C.I. official refused to comment on the
development but said a report would be sent to the I.C.C. on
their discussions with I.C.L. officials.

The I.C.L. had applied for recognition to the I.C.C. but
a decision on the issue was deferred in the I.C.C. Board
meeting on Tuesday.

Instead, the I.C.C. had asked B.C.C.I. President Shashank
Manohar to meet the representatives of I.C.L. and submit a
report on the discussions later on.

"The I.C.C. Board received an application for approval
from I.C.L. The (I.C.C.) Board resolved to adjourn its
considerations to allow discussions between B.C.C.I. President
Shashank Manohar and representatives of the I.C.L.," the
I.C.C. had said in a statement on Tuesday after its Board
meeting.

Thursday, I.C.C.'s General Manager for Cricket Operations
Dave Richardson, a former South Africa Test wicket keeper,
told reporters in Mumbai that the request for the dialogue
with I.C.L. had been initiated by B.C.C.I. chief Manohar.

"The request came from the B.C.C.I. (at the I.C.C. Board
meeting in Dubai). It's in the B.C.C.I.'s interest there's one
unified family in India", he said. PTI SSR