Let players sign in India - May

International players should be allowed to retire and take up lucrative contracts with Twenty20 leagues in India, according to Tim May, the chief executive of the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations. May said any move by national boards to stop such retirements, or to ban players who join Twenty20 leagues, could be a restraint of trade and might result in court action.

"If a player wants to retire from international cricket because he's had enough and wants to spend more time with his family and he can seek employment elsewhere, to allow him to spend more time with his family, then, like any other employee, he should be allowed to," May told the Australian.

"We will resist that [banning players] with everything we have. That is an unreasonable restraint of trade, which will be up to the players and the courts to test."

But while May said there was the potential for competitions like the Indian Premier League and the Indian Cricket League to lure players away from their international contracts, national boards also have another potential problem. The IPL's franchising system has raised questions over possible sponsorship clashes.

It is feasible that a Cricket Australia-contracted player could sign with a team owned by a company that provides services in competition with Cricket Australia's major sponsors, the Commonwealth Bank and Travelex. "That's a hypothetical question," James Sutherland, Cricket Australia's chief executive said.

"The facts are that we deal with these situations day after day, with players playing county cricket or in other situations. Players will need to work around these situations to be released."

Justin Vaughan, the New Zealand Cricket chief executive, said his board would have to revisit its payment structure to ensure non-IPL players are not easily enticed to a rebel Twenty20 outfit.

"We'll talk to the players' association because they are very mindful of that situation and we certainly don't want these players being lost to international cricket," Vaughan told the New Zealand Herald. "But it's great our players can make a lot of money playing cricket. That's fantastic."

The initial IPL sign-on fees were announced last week, with Shane Warne receiving a US$400,000 deal, Glenn McGrath attracting US$350,000 and Justin Langer signing up for US$175,000. However, those figures are base fees for being part of the player pool and do not include the salaries they will be paid by whichever franchise they join.