ABU DHABI // The Masters Champions League (MCL) is set to hold an auction for nearly 260 veteran international cricketers in October.
The Twenty20 league for retired international cricketers will take place in February next year, but one former cricketer who may not be there is the Pakistan’s Wasim Akram.
Alongside Adam Gilchrist and Brian Lara, Wasim was part of a trio of former stars who were present at the launch of the event at Dubai in June. But last week, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced it had signed Wasim as an ambassador for its own Twenty20 League, the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
That tournament will be staged in Doha, and it will likely run at the same time as the MCL does in the UAE.
“I’m up for leaving anything for Pakistan cricket,” Wasim said last week. “I don’t want to earn money by playing cricket but instead want to give something back to my nation.
“We signed with MCL and had to work for them, but my priority is to help our country’s cause.”
Though Wasim was always an obvious acquisition for the PCB, the fact that his signing also disrupts the MCL likely makes it sweeter.
It was because of the MCL that the PCB had to shift its league to Doha, having originally planned to hold it in the UAE.
MCL organisers have not commented on the development, though in an unrelated release on Monday, they omitted Wasim’s name from the legends who “were unveiled as the icon players of the tournament at the launch”.
One official close to Wasim has suggested that a way will be found to keep both leagues happy, though they gave no further details.
However, the MCL has recruited Sean Morris as its chief operating officer.
Morris is a former Hampshire player but better known as the head of England’s Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA). He has also been chief executive of the Rajasthan Royals, the Indian Premier League franchise.
Daniel Vettori and the UAE’s Khurram Khan have already been announced as players in the league.
Andrew Symonds, Graeme Smith, Herschelle Gibbs, Mike Hussey, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saqlain Mushtaq, Abdul Razzaq, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh are the other names said to be in the mix.
osamiuddin@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
