Champions League to go ahead despite ICC objections

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India, Australia and South Africa will go ahead with a $6 million Champions Twenty20 League despite objections from the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The boards met on Wednesday to announce the Sept. 29-Oct. 8 event, starting just a day after the Champions Trophy final in Pakistan despite ICC rules requiring a week's gap after its tournaments.

The league organisers said the rule applied only for international cricket and Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said the league would essentially be a domestic tournament.

"I think the critical thing with all of this that needs to be understood, and is well understood, is that this is a domestic competition that distinguishes itself quite significantly from international events and ICC events," he said.

"The ICC agreement that we have all signed is based upon member countries' national teams, that we will not play within seven days of an international tournament ending," Board of Control for Cricket in India vice-president Lalit Modi told a news conference.

The league will feature the top two teams from the domestic competitions of Australia and South Africa, the Indian Premier League as well as Pakistan champions Sialkot.

Modi said he hoped England champions Middlesex would also join in, although the Indian board is at loggerheads with their English counterparts over players belonging to the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL) who have featured in some of the county teams.