Northants can't play in Champions League - Modi
English county have three ICL players in its ranks
Northamptonshire will not be allowed to take part in the Champions League even if they qualify from England's domestic Twenty20 tournament because the side contains three players associated with the unauthorised Indian Cricket League (ICL), league chairman Lalit Modi has said.
The two county teams making the final of the Twenty20 Cup were to be England's representatives at the Champions League. Northamptonshire, whose squad has two players - Nicky Boje and Andrew Hall - who have not severed ties with the ICL, take on Sussex in the semi-final of the Twenty20 Cup on August 15, with the final later that day.
"Champions League rules are very clear that no team with players connected to any unauthorised cricket can be a part of it," Modi said. "Northants will be disqualified from the league if they enter the final (of England domestic T20 cricket) and there would be a vacant slot."
However, he ruled out the participation of a fourth Indian franchise as a replacement should the slot open up. "There won't be a fourth Indian team. There also won't be another team from Australia or South Africa (if the need arises)," he said. "We have a solution (to fill up the slot)."
India has three teams - reigning IPL champions Deccan Chargers, runners-up Bangalore Royal Challengers and the Delhi Daredevils - while joint founding boards Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa have two each in the fray, as does the ECB.
Hyderabad, Bangalore and Delhi will host the inaugural Champions League between October 8 and 23.
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