Rebel Indian Cricket League postponed

The Indian Cricket League (ICL) Twenty20 tournament due to take place next month has been postponed, partly due to the global economic crisis.

UK newspaper The Guardian has reported that former Australian test legend and now ICL board member Dean Jones has stated that "the (global) financial crisis played a part. But the ICL will be played later in the year - I'm very confident of that."

The Guardian says there have been reports that the ICL's founder and Chairman, Subhash Chandra, is now considering turning the event into an annual, international Twenty20 tournament in November.

Chandra, a former rice exporter who launched India's satellite television broadcaster Zee TV, hopes that an annual, unofficial world Twenty20 will counter faltering advertising revenues and persuade the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council, to drop its opposition to the event.