Players ready to revolt on overseas quotas

Martyn Ball: 'The players in this country are very upset' © Getty Images

A report in today's Times claims that the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA) is so angry with the decision to allow two overseas players per county in 2005 that its members are considering strike action.

On Tuesday, the First Class Forum announced that there would be no change to the number of overseas players in 2005, even though it had been widely expected that it would be cut to one per county, which was the recommendation of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC).

"These people [the CAC] have done a lot of research for the good of the game and the county chairmen have refused to take note," Martyn Ball, the PCA chairman, told the newspaper. "The players in this country are very upset about that."

The PCA has campaigned long and hard on the issue. It is worried about the number of foreign players appearing in domestic cricket, a situation exacerbated by the European Union laws on rights to work which have enabled many overseas-based players to gain domestic qualification courtesy of their ancestry.

At the PCA's AGM last month, there was an overwhelming vote to reduce the number of official overseas players. "It became very heated," Ball, who plays for Gloucestershire, explained. "Some wanted to look at taking union action and discussed the possibility of withholding labour from televised matches. But we took legal advice and decided against it." But now he admitted that might be a possibility. "I'm not saying we'll be taking action, but we'll look at our position and I'm not discounting it."

While there is a degree of self-interest in the PCA's stand - overseas players, it claims, prevent talented English players from coming through - Ball was eager to highlight the effect on the national side, and on England's finances.

"It seems ludicrous that, while we're also taking massive steps to strengthen the grass roots and build academies, so much money is going on overseas players," he said. "The game in this country needs a strong, vibrant England team, but if we continue to limit the opportunities for our best young players, it's always going to be a struggle to compete for the Ashes or the World Cup."