On Cricket:For Niall O'Brien and Boyd Rankin, the prospect of signing up to the Indian Cricket League, on hopefully lucrative terms, is on the face of it very tempting.
The two Ireland internationals have been invited to join the ICL, and understandably both sound keen to do so.
The ICL is a breakaway tournament, funded by the Indian broadcaster Zee TV. For several years rumours have circulated about plans for a "rebel" tournament outside the control of official governing bodies.
The idea is sound enough. There are numerous great players nearing the end of international careers who would be open to one last big pay-day: Shane Warne, Brian Lara, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, Stephen Fleming, Sachin Tendulkar, Inzamam ul Haq, to name a few.
Add in a major sponsor, a few established cricketing names of the past to add some gravitas - and away we go.
Such a package would pull in a TV audience, sell advertising and create some buzz, particularly on the subcontinent, from where the cricket economy is now driven.
This is the dream scenario being sold to O'Brien and Rankin. It will be interesting to see if it holds up.
It is worth noting that not all of the above list have committed to the Indian Cricket League and that of the players who have signed up, most are the wrong side of 30. Of those who have committed, only Mohammed Yousuf would be considered a truly world-class player with his best years ahead of him. The rest are from the lower levels of the Indian domestic game.
When Kerry Packer created World Series Cricket in the late 1970s, he changed the game forever. But there are fundamental differences between Packer's "circus" and the ICL today. Most importantly, thanks in no small part to Packer himself, international cricketers are far better-paid than their equivalents of 30 years ago. Packer exploited the discontent on the part of players towards their boards.
Similar friction remains today only in the smaller cricketing countries, including Ireland.
Note that as yet no current England player has been contracted to the ICL. Were Kevin Pietersen, Michael Vaughan or Andrew Flintoff to jump ship, it would mean walking away from their ECB central contracts.
As England captain, Vaughan earns around €737,917 a year and as much again in endorsements, which come from the media exposure that goes with the job.
Likewise, neither Mahendra Dhoni, the new David Beckham of Indian cricket, nor Ricky Ponting is likely to give away a career on the world stage for short-term cash.
It remains to be seen whether there will be any serious repercussions to the players who do join the rebels.
An ICC spokesman told The Irish Times, "The ICC Board regards ICL as a BCCI matter. It is a domestic tournament and, as such, it is in the realm of the BCCI to grant it approval or not as the case may be."
Asked if there were possible sanctions towards the rebels, the spokesman said, "It would be between the individual player and his home board. Players are contracted to their boards, not directly to the ICC."
The BCCI have made it clear they are not about to stand by and watch as a rival organisation sets up shop in their backyard. They moved to ban any player who has signed up from playing for India again, a decision that has been successfully challenged in court.
The Irish players are not centrally contracted to the ICU and their earnings from cricket derive from their county contracts. The ECB have yet to say whether the players would be welcomed back to county cricket next year.
No one would deny Niall O'Brien and Boyd Rankin their chance and if they can make some decent money from the ICL good luck to them. But as with every contract negotiation, the devil may be in the detail.
l England made light of the absence of Andrew Flintoff to defeat India by 42 runs in the third NatWest Series contest at Edgbaston yesterday.
England innings
AN Cook c Yuvraj Singh b Powar 40
MJ Prior c Piyush Chawla b Patel 34
IR Bell c Karthik b Singh 79
KP Pietersen st Dhoni b Piyush Chawla 9
PD Collingwood c sub b Powar 44
OA Shah b Yuvraj Singh 19
RS Bopara c Dravid b Singh 10
SCJ Broad c Yuvraj Singh b Singh 10
CT Tremlett not out 19
JM Anderson not out 0
Extras (nb 4) 17
Total (8 wickets) ... 281
Did not bat: MS Panesar
Fall: 1-76, 2-92, 3-118, 4-193, 5-226, 6-246, 7-255, 8-273.
Bowling: Z Khan 0 for 49; RP Singh 3 for 55; MM Patel 1 for 37; RR Powar 2 for 45; Piyush Chawla 1 for 50; Yuvraj Singh 1 for 39.
India innings
SC Ganguly c Prior b Tremlett 72
SR Tendulkar c Collingwood b Anderson 8
KD Karthik c Cook b Broad 0
R Dravid b Tremlett 56
Yuvraj Singh run out 45
MS Dhoni c Collingwood b Anderson 13
RR Powar c Bell b Collingwood 5
Piyush Chawla c Bell b Collingwood ... 1
Z Khan b Panesar 11
RP Singh not out 12
MM Patel b Anderson 1
Extras (nb 2) 15
Total (all out; 48.1 overs) ... 239
Fall: 1-35, 2-36, 3-140, 4-149, 5-190, 6-210, 7-213, 8-214, 9-234, 10-239.
Bowling: SCJ Broad 1 for 34, JM Anderson 3 for 32; CT Tremlett 2 for 57; MS Panesar 1 for 49; PD Collingwood 2 for 45; RS Bopara 0 for 12.
England won by 42 runs
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