ICC to look into BCCI's complaint over Lloyd's comments

The ICC will look into a complaint from the BCCI against Clive Lloyd, the ICC cricket committee chairman, for suggesting the unrecognised ICL and the IPL, run by the BCCI, should learn to co-exist. However, Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, said it would first check with Lloyd to understand the context and veracity of the remarks that were reported in an Indian newspaper.

Confirming the ICC had received an email from N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary, on the issue, Lorgat told Cricinfo the ICC would approach the issue in a "fair and appropriate" manner. There was no time-frame involved in the process, he said.

Asked about the ICL during a private visit to Mumbai last week, Lloyd, the former West Indies captain had told Times of India that "there's nothing like having a discussion to break the ice", and suggested the West Indies needed leagues like the ICL and the IPL to revive the game in the country.

The BCCI on Thursday wrote to the ICC seeking action against Lloyd and compared the situation to the stepping down of Sunil Gavaskar as ICC cricket committee chairman earlier this year. Gavaskar was asked by the ICC to choose between his ICC role and that of a media commentator.

Lorgat said he didn't believe the comparison was valid. "We need to first establish if the merits of the case are the same," Lorgat told Cricinfo. "Personally, I don't believe so. We need to just ensure he does not make comments that are not appropriate. And if it is different case we need to establish exactly what the facts are without which it is very difficult to make comments."

The BCCI has adopted a hard-line position against ICL, and banned players associated with it from all forms of official cricket. It has also refused to entertain requests from the ICL for recognition, and pushed for a worldwide ban on players and officials associated with the Twenty20 league.

Interestingly, the BCCI's Asian allies have emerged with conflicting policies on ICL. Sri Lanka Cricket, headed by Arjuna Ranatunga, has allowed six ICL players to participate in a domestic competition, while Javed Miandad, the new director-general of the Pakistan board, has questioned the intent of the bans enforced by past PCB administrations on players contracted with the ICL.