SYDNEY: Cricket greats Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar are planning to start a new Twenty20 competition for former international players, reports said on Friday.

Unconfirmed reports say that Warne and Tendulkar have offered 28 big-name ex-players contracts worth $US25,000 a match, with 15 Twenty20 games planned for the Cricket All Stars League over a 42-month period.

The Australian newspaper said players believed to have been contacted included Australians Brett Lee, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Glenn McGrath, along with Michael Vaughan and Andrew Flintoff from England, and South African Jacques Kallis.

The Australian said none of the players it contacted wanted to discuss the proposal but there was concern about the push to sign a one-page contract with the promise of more details to follow.

“Warne is in Britain but has been actively spruiking (promoting) the idea. He hinted this year that he and Tendulkar had formed a business that would be launching during the year,” it said.

Cricket Australia had no comment when approached by AFP, but has said previously that anything that promotes and grows the game in new and emerging markets is good for cricket, as long as it doesn’t use current contracted players.

Lee’s manager Neil Maxwell confirmed his client had received an offer to play in the Cricket All Stars League and would be seeking permission from CA to play.

“I can’t see anything wrong with it, it’s a group of retired blokes playing a game of cricket,” Maxwell told Fox Sports on Friday.

The newspaper said if the Cricket All Stars League proceeds it could affect some domestic Twenty20 competitions such as Australia’s Big Bash League and the Indian Premier League, which often include former international cricketers.

Under the reported proposal, a series of matches will be held around the world over a three-and-a-half-year period, with the US to host the first series in September.

New York, Los Angeles and Chicago were cited as the leading contenders to host the matches in the US.

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2015

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