Senior players join contract talks

The pressing issue of player contracts will be discussed on June 11 in Bangalore, a day before the Indian board's working committee meeting. A two-member panel, comprising of Shashank Manohar, the BCCI vice president, and N Srinivasan, the treasurer, will hold talks with a few senior players before India leave for their tour of Ireland and England.

Srinivasan and Manohar were appointed last month to study the contentious contracts issue and arrive at an amicable solution after the players expressed reservations about the board's new policy on contracts. Following India's early exit from the World Cup the annual retainer fee was reduced to Rs 5 lakh [US$ 12,300 approx] per player irrespective of his seniority, a massive reduction from the last contracts which had graded payments of Rs 50 lakh, Rs 35 lakh and Rs. 20 lakh. However, the board proposed bonuses for every win, and an additional amount for series victories, in a performance-related scheme.

Among other issues, Shah added that the working committee will also discuss the Indian Cricket League (ICL), launched by the Zee Network. While it is largely perceived as a breakaway league to provoke the BCCI, top officials of the ICL, including former Australian Test player Dean Jones, have insisted that they are not trying to compete with the BCCI.

The date for the selection meeting to name the Indian squads for the England tour haven't been decided yet, but Shah confirmed it would be held in Bangalore. Originally scheduled for June 12, it had to be postponed as it clashed with the committee meeting.