Cricket News

‘If I was Chris Lynn, I Would Take Cricket Australia to Court’ – Australian Legend on Chris Lynn’s fracas with Cricket Australia

The debate on whether T20 Leagues are encroaching on International cricket has taken a new level altogether with Chris Lynn being in the eye of the storm. Though Chris Lynn has registered himself as an icon player in the UAE’s ILT20, he will still require a No-objection Certificate (NOC) from Cricket Australia, a move for which many are doubtful considering that the country has their Big Bash League BBL running at the same time.

Lynn, who has been one of the superstars of the BBL, is likely to leave Brisbane Heat ahead of the next edition of the tournament. Now, former Australia captain Ian Chappell has said that if he was in Lynn’s place and if he did not get the NOC to play in ILT20 in the UAE, he would have taken Cricket Australia CA to court. Currently, Lynn does not have a contract either with Cricket Australia or with his Home state Queensland.

“To me, you then go back to the World Series Cricket days, where they took the board to court over restraint of trade. Is it a restraint of trade? In Chris Lynn’s case, if he hasn’t got a contract with Cricket Australia or Cricket Queensland, what’s to stop him? If I was Chris Lynn and I wanted to play in the UAE I’d take them to court. I don’t think Cricket Australia would have a hope in hell. It’s got to be a restraint of trade. You’re not contracting him, but you’re not letting him play either,” Chappell was quoted as saying by Wide World of Sports.

In context of Lynn, Chappell feels that International cricket face a real challenge of retaining players and dealing with the proliferation of T20 leagues around the world.

“I think a lot of the older players will get offers from that area, and that will be a real challenge for nations like Australia who have a lot of good players, and also for nations that can’t afford to pay their players the best rates.”

“Then you’ve got the problem of the IPL franchises owning teams in different leagues around the world. If you’ve got a decent IPL contract and the choice is between Australia and your IPL franchise’s UAE team, well are you going to put your IPL contract at risk?” Chappell stated.