Overseas and out

Club officials tempted to try and circumnavigate new Government regulations on overseas players should tread carefully.

The rule changes, announced in early February, outlaw payments to overseas players who come into the country under the Working Holiday Scheme. However, there has been a suggestion in some quarters that clubs would be within the rules if they paid their overseas man for non-cricketing jobs, such as a barman or assistant groundsman.

But Neil Edwards, secretary of the League Cricket Conference said: "As I understand it, any form of payment by a club to an overseas player makes that player a professional. And that includes paying airfares, providing accommodation and payment for any work he does for the club.

"This change came completely out of the blue. There was no consultation and for many clubs who were negotiating with an overseas player, the timing could not have been worse."

Simon Thomson, cricket secretary of Bolton League club Kearsley, who has, in the past, helped several young hopefuls find a club, said: "I suspect that from now on, immigration officials will be keeping a very close eye on young Australians and South Africans coming into this country around the start of the cricket season.

"Anyone carrying a cricket coffin - and a lot who don't - will need to make sure all the documentation is copper-bottomed and provide written proof that they have a proper job away from the cricket club."

Since an earlier Government volte-face in 2003, clubs have been free to employ professional overseas players who have come into the country under the Working Holidaymaker Scheme. But on February 7, with many clubs about to conclude plans for the 2005 campaign, the authorities called time on holiday cricketers.

In a written statement to Parliament, Desmond Browne, the Minister for Citizenship and Immigration, wrote: "We are prohibiting the use of this route as a means of bringing professional sports persons to the UK in order not to undermine the work being done to develop our own talented young people."

The changes, which have the backing of the ECB, do not affect players who are in the second year of an agreement or those who obtained a working holiday permit before February 7. Nor do they impact on club professionals with a full work permit who have appeared in one five-day Test, three one-day internationals or five first-class games in the previous 18 months.

However, one club official, who preferred to remain anonymous, said: "Why didn't the Government announce this at the end of last season and who is going to police it? There will be hundreds of players on holiday permits all over the country. Over the winter, we lined up a young Australian with a coaching qualification. He would have played in the first team, coached the kids and earned his keep by working behind the bar and on the ground. Now we're back to square one.

"But of course it's all right for clubs who can afford to pay a first-class player around £10,000 plus air fares, accommodation, car and all that stuff. This is one law for the rich and one for the poor."