ICL not WSC: Lillee

Former Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee said the parallels drawn between the Indian Cricket League (ICL), the breakaway league promoted by the Essel group, and Kerry Packer’s rebel World Series Cricket (WSC) weren’t accurate.

“There’s a huge difference in the standard of the game,” said Lillee, here at the MRF Pace Foundation. “In the Packer series, you had an Australian team, a Rest of the World team, and a West Indian side that was pretty formidable. I don’t know too much about who has signed up for the ICL, but it seems to be those who have retired or just about retired.”

Lillee also said the cricketers in the ICL wouldn’t be able to rally around national pride. “This isn’t playing for your country, is it?”

He said, however, that the format could do the trick. “I think Twenty20 is a sleeping giant.

“A lot of people haven’t realised how attractive it is. It’s a fabulous concept, and I think soon there’ll be three types of cricket, the wham-bam version, the strategic limited-overs form and the historic form. There may be three different audiences, but there could also be some crossover,” he added.

Asked if the BCCI’s decision to ban cricketers aligning with the ICL was fair, Lillee said, “I’ve got nothing to do with any of this, I really don’t know the details. But, it would seem to me that if a barman in England goes somewhere else, he can’t be told he’s not welcome where he started. They may want to be a little careful.”

Lillee, with head coach T.A. Sekhar, will work with young New Zealand bowlers, 20-year-old Hamish Bennet (“a little like Steve Harmison but compact”) and 18-year-old Timothy Grant Sothee (“more refined”).

Dayle Hadlee, the New Zealand bowling coach, has accompanied his wards. “Dayle’s just here to ensure we’re all singing off the same hymn page,” said Lillee. Bangladesh’s Mohammad Shahzada and Rubel Hossain are also training at the Pace Foundation. S. Sreesanth is expected to consult with Lillee and Sekhar on Wednesday.