Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes his contract with the Indian Premier League (IPL) will not cause any problems with Cricket Australia.
Aussie skipper confident of being able to play in IPL.
Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes his contract with the Indian Premier League (IPL) will not cause any problems with Cricket Australia.
Ponting is just one of a number of Aussies to have signed up for the lucrative competition in India, and he does not foresee any problems with his Australian employers.
Recently retired Adam Gilchrist is another Aussie to be joining the IPL, but he is already experiencing some problems due to contractual disagreements between CA and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The BCCI says sponsorship arrangements are proving to be a major sticking point for CA which has raised concerns about the issue and has subsequently put the involvement of its players in the IPL at risk.
Although Gilchrist is facing problems, Ponting does not see too many complications for him in the long run.
"I haven't spoken to Gilly about that," said Ponting.
"The only (problem) I can think of would be if there is any sort of conflicting sponsorships that Cricket Australia might be worried about.
"I really can't see any other reason why. It's a domestic competition - as county cricket is - and there's never been any worry about Cricket Australia releasing guys to go and play county cricket.
"As far as I'm concerned it fits in exactly the same as that."
Backing
"That's the reason Cricket Australia backed it all in the first place because it was a domestic tournament and it wouldn't be taking Australian players away from the domestic competitions or the Australian team.
"We've all known from the start that Australian cricket takes preference over any other form of cricket so Gilly will probably be the only one in Australia eligible to play anyway."
Ponting did warn Australian cricket chiefs that if they caused too many problems then they would be risking their relationship with the players.
"If they tried to do that I'm sure the Players' Association would have something to say about it. It would be a little bit unfair if that was the case," he said.
Contract
Ponting admits that he has not fully read his contract with the IPL, as he will not be joining at the start of the competition due to Australia commitments.
"I haven't seen mine. It's probably sitting in my email account at home," he smiled when asked the details of his contract.
"I've been a little bit scared the last couple of weeks to go in there and see what's in there.
"I'm sure Gilly has (had a look). It's probably on his mind a lot more than the rest of us at the moment."
