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ECB awaiting Champions League notification

The ECB is still awaiting communication from the organisers of the Champions League Twenty20 over the participation of teams from England

Cricinfo staff
27-Apr-2010
Sussex had participated in the first Champions League  •  Global Cricket Ventures-BCCI

Sussex had participated in the first Champions League  •  Global Cricket Ventures-BCCI

The ECB is still awaiting communication from the organisers of the Champions League Twenty20 over the participation of teams from England for the tournament to be held in South Africa from September 10-26.
The participation of teams from England had been put in doubt after it emerged that the schedule, announced in February, would clash with crucial fixtures at the end of the English season which runs until September 16. England will be playing Pakistan in an ODI series at the time, the final two rounds of the County Championship will be on as well as the semi-finals and final of the ECB40 competition.
"It is extremely improbable that any English county will be taking part in the Champions League. The sanctity of the domestic season is of the utmost importance, as all the clubs agree," David Collier, the chief executive of the ECB, was quoted as saying in the Independent.
"We are awaiting a response from the BCCI on a number of proposals. One of them is for the winners and runners up of the Champions League to play our winners and runners-up. Now that the IPL is over we hope to hear from them soon."
Sussex and Somerset took part in the inaugural tournament last year in India, but further English participation this season has been in doubt since Lalit Modi, who was the league's commissioner, tweeted that two invites had been sent to the ECB. The ECB was quick to state that the offer was not official. Cricinfo had subsequently understood that the ECB had failed to accept the invitation within the stipulated deadline. The Champions League's governing council meeting in March had failed to yield a decision on English participation, but in the wake of the recent announcement that this year's edition will be held in September, the organisers have said venues and competing teams would be announced in the near future.