ECB face challenge on overseas qualifications

Sydney grade cricketer, Phil Jaques who has played two games for NSW, is threatening possible legal action against the England & Wales Cricket Board over their rules regarding what constitutes an overseas player. Jaques is likely to play this season for New South Wales, a move that would mean that he was regarded as an out-and-out overseas registration despite holding a British passport.

Jaques played for Northamptonshire last season and was fifth leading run scorer in the County Championship, with 1409 runs at an average of 58. Under current rules and regulations, no overseas-born person with a British passport qualifies as a domestic player if they have played first-class cricket in their homeland in the preceding 12 months.

In the likely event that Jaques does play regular first-class cricket for NSW in the 2003-04 season, his playing future at Northants will be in jeopardy as the county have already signed their two imports for 2004. So, if the rules stand , Jaques will be forced to find another club that will take him on as one of their foreign players.

"We think we've got a pretty strong case for restraint of trade," Jaques said. "Since I am a British passport holder, we feel I should be allowed to play county cricket, even if I do play first-class cricket out here [Australia]. It would be a different story if I was playing for Australia over here and then wanted to play as a local player over there. European law states that anyone holding a passport from an EU member country can work freely within the EU. With England being a part of the EU we feel I should be able to work over there. This is my job, it's my career, and I feel it's harsh that I can't go and work in a place where I do have a passport."

Stephen Coverdale, Northamptonshire's chief executive officer, agreed with Jaques. "We are aware that Phil's lawyers have made contact with the ECB," he said. "I think that they will have no choice but to allow Phil to play as a local player for us next season as it is within the law." Jaques, 24, would dearly love an international career and has not ruled out the possibility of playing for England. "Australia's my home, it has been my whole life," he admitted, "but obviously it's a massive temptation to play international cricket in England."

If he is successful then it will raise once again the thorny issue of the number of overseas players who have domestic registrations courtesy of British passports.