Now Lanka trouble for ICC

The cricket World Cup was plunged into a new cash row on Thursday when the sport's governing body found itself on a collision course with Sri Lanka.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) issued a statement warning the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) of the trouble they could face should they fail to settle their pay dispute with their own players.

"We have been in regular contact with the BCCSL and expect to receive the signed Player Terms on Friday," said ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed.

"Failure to return the contracts will have very serious consequences for the BCCSL," added Speed who did not specify what measures could be taken.

The warning was issued after Sri Lanka's players rejected a performance-related pay package for the World Cup and, as a result, the board missed the January 14 deadline set by the ICC for the signing of players agreements.

The BCCSL on Wednesday had offered its squad a cash bounty to win the World Cup, which runs from February 9 to March 23, by means of a new payment scheme tied to performance.

The island's cricket chiefs, which last month turned down an across-the-board pay increase demanded by players, instead began discussing a performance-based payment scheme with a 100,000-dollar bonus to be offered to the entire team if they won the tournament.

Under the plan, the match fee for each player was to be doubled from 700 dollars to 1,400 dollars, while each player could also earn an additional 20,000 dollars if the team reached the final.

Earlier, cricket website cricinfo.com reported the Sri Lankans had refused to sign their contracts because of an argument about payments.

The website said a statement from the Sri Lanka Cricketers Association (SLCA) said: "The SLCA confirms that the controversial players' terms agreement has not been signed by the Sri Lanka players."

The Association said it was demanding the BCCSL paid their players 20 per cent of the revenue they receive from the World Cup, which is due to begin in southern Africa on February 9. The SLCA said players had been offered only five per cent.

"The players of Australia and New Zealand are being paid 25 per cent...the South Africans are almost there with 30 per cent of the total money received from their board," the SLCA statement added.

"In view of the above, the 20 per cent that the Sri Lankan players are requesting seems reasonable enough."

Despite the row, the SLCA insisted there was no question of the team boycotting the tournament which they won in 1996.

"The players are committed to playing in the World Cup even without such payments," said a spokesman.

On Wednesday, Indian officials had expressed confidence their country's top stars would take part in the World Cup despite their own ongoing contracts row.

"Take it from me, the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly will be there at the World Cup," an official of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) told AFP.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed it received "signed but altered" contracts from India by the Tuesday deadline, but said a decision whether they will be accepted will be taken this week.

Indian cricketers conditionally signed the contracts last week without accepting clauses that bar them from endorsing non-official sponsors before and after the tournament.