Kent chief vows to fight for Champions League

Paul Millman, the Kent chief executive, is adamant his club will participate in the Champions League later this year. Despite reaching the final of the Twenty20 Cup, Kent have been denied entry to the inaugural competition owing to the inclusion of two players who were part of the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League (ICL).

However, Millman says he will be "outraged" if Kent's replacements, Pakistan's Twenty20 champions Sialkot Stallions, are allowed in: they too have ICL players, namely Rana Naved and Imran Nazir.

"This whole affair has been a moving feast from the time it was first mentioned but there is a potential impact from all this on 15 other counties, not just Kent," Millman told Kent Online. "We are only in the firing line so to speak because we managed to reach the final, but any other of the first-class counties could be going through this and, instead of us, facing up to the implications of what appear to be pretty major inconsistencies."

Despite his frustration at the situation, Millman remains uncertain how he can help Kent into the League, but vows to fight on. "The matter is not yet closed as far as we are concerned. We are in constant touch with the ECB who are sympathetic to our case and we are still trying to salvage something for Kent cricket out of it all.

"I'm not even sure when this event is going to take place because the goalposts keep moving in terms of timing, but the last I heard is that it won't now start until December."