[cricman]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cri...er-League.html

A total of 13 players employed by counties appeared in the BPL in February and signed contracts worth between $25,000-$75,000. None have been paid their full fees with a fraction having received up to 50 per cent of the money owed.

“The contract was brokered by FICA (international players union) and set out the players should get 25 per cent before the start of the tournament, 50 per cent during it and 25 per cent at the end,” Angus Porter, chief executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association told The Telegraph. “A handful have received 75 per cent, but most only 25. I don’t know of anyone who has received the full payment.

“This is not just an England problem. It impacts on players from all nations. If the Bangladesh Cricket Board is seeking to build long term relationships with players and want them to come back and play next year then this is not a very good way to go about it. I don’t know what is going on behind the scenes but I do have a concern that this may be something more than a delay.”

The tournament was designed to mirror the Indian Premier League and sprang up in a matter of a few weeks with the sale of six franchises followed by a hastily arranged auction early in February which featured the likes of Shahid Afridi and Chris Gayle.

It was held over 19 days with Durham and England wicketkeeper Phil Mustard a losing finalist on Feb 29 for the Barisal Burners. Matt Prior had put his name forward for the auction but was blocked from appearing in the league by the England management who held reservations over the organisation of the league, which was officially sanctioned by the International Cricket Council.

Somerset’s Peter Trego, Surrey batsmen Jason Roy and Tom Maynard as well as Northamptonshire’s Irish wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien were among the players to have signed deals. A number of deadlines for paying the money owed have passed and a last resort could be legal action.

“Events like this receive official backing from the ICC and there they should be made to conform to minimum standards in operational areas,” said Porter. “It is bad for the reputation of the game and bad for the bank balances of players who have not been paid.

"We have seen correspondence from the BCB promising payments will be made but at this stage the players are just fed up and think they will not be paid anything.

“Potentially they could take legal action. That would be costly and uncertain as jurisdiction would lie with Bangladesh courts. I am hopeful an appropriate amount of pressure from boards, players and hopefully the ICC can be brought to bear.”

The BCB were unavailable for comment on Thursday night. During the tournament a bookie was arrested in Chittagong for contacting players and a Sunday newspaper article quoted another bookie claiming to have arranged the result of one match.

“We were a bit concerned that the tournament was organised at the last minute,” said Porter. “And also because the questions we were asking about organisation, payments, medical provision and anti-corruption went unanswered.”