Teams count the cost of Champions League postponement

Cricket Australia has lost "millions of dollars" from the postponement of the Champions League Twenty20 and the teams involved in the tournament are also worried about what they have missed out on as a result of the Mumbai terrorist attacks. Victoria and Western Australia are not guaranteed of taking part in the next event, which offers US$2 million to the winner, unless they reach the final of the local competition again in January.

Victoria, who have won the trophy three years in a row, have the right to be most upset at the implications of the delay and may look to the governing body of the Champions League for compensation. "Certainly we have incurred some costs with respect to the competition this time around," Tony Dodemaide, Cricket Victoria's chief executive, told News Limited papers. "Obviously we are right on the verge of going over and had put everything in place. It's also fair to say having confirmed the Champions League and expectations of revenue, we adjusted the alterations accordingly."

James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, said the events in Mumbai had everyone "left in tears". "The planned approach is a 12-month postponement," he said in the Sydney Morning Herald. "So what that means is whoever the champion of the day is, they'll get to play in the next event."

Sutherland said "we're all out of pocket" and there was "no money floating around for anyone as a result of this". "[CA is losing] quite a lot," he said. "It's millions of dollars. Again, this whole issue and all of the problems in Mumbai are bigger and greater than cricket. We fully understand that these things happen. Unfortunately that's how it is. There are a lot of people worse off than us."

The US$5 million tournament was supposed to begin on Wednesday. Teams from England, South Africa, India and Pakistan are also involved in the tournament and a meeting is planned for December 8 to discuss potential dates for the contest.