London, September 14: Andrew Flintoff’s plan, as quoted by his agent Andrew Chandler, to reject his England contract and turn a freelancer may not materialize with Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi making it clear that the all-rounder would require a No Objection Certificate from his board to participate in the IPL.
Flintoff, who quit Tests after the Ashes, was offered an incremental contract w on Friday by the England and Wales Cricket Board, but according to reports, the all-rounder is planning to reject it and turn into a freelancer cricketer.
Modi said such a move might jeopardise Flintoff’s USD 1.5 million salary with the Chennai Super Kings as he would need ECB clearance to play in the IPL.
“There are no issues as our stance is clear. If a player has once been contracted by a member ICC country then he will have to produce an NOC to play in the IPL even if he decides not to be contracted in the future for a period of two years,” Modi told ‘The Daily Telegraph’.
“Therefore in the specific case of Flintoff – yes he will need an NOC to participate in IPL even if he turns down the central contract and will continue to need that for another two years,” he added.
ECB has issued Flintoff a two-year NOC in 2008 but could hold back in future if he refuses to sign the contract and sets a precedent that other players could follow.
Even though ECB will not legally be able to prevent Flintoff from playing in the 2010 IPL, the board may withhold an NOC in future, the newspaper reported.
According to Flintoff’s agent Andrew Chandler, the beefy all-rounder, who is recovering from knee surgery, might consider playing for around six teams in five different continents.
Chandler had said offers have been received from teams in South Africa and Flintoff would target deals in Australia and the West Indies.
—–Agencies