Cricket: All Stars T20 idea gets thumbs up from Aussies

Prime Minister John Key and Shane Warne during half-time in the Fill the Basin for Canterbury charity cricket match between Canterbury and Wellington. Photo / NZ Herald

Cricket Australia says Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar's plan to start a new Twenty20 competition for former international stars could help promote the sport globally.

News Corp reports Warne and Tendulkar have offered 28 big-name ex-international players contracts worth around $30,000 a match to play in a worldwide tournament, the Cricket All Stars League.

Among those understood to have been contacted are Australians Brett Lee, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Glenn McGrath, along with Englishmen Michael Vaughan and Andrew Flintoff and South African Jacques Kallis.

Cricket Australia and the International Cricket Council said they had not been advised of the venture, but a CA spokesman told AAP it could be a positive way to promote and grow the game in new or emerging markets - as long as it didn't poach contracted international players.

Lee's manager Neil Maxwell confirmed his client had received an offer and would be seeking permission from CA to play.

"I can't see anything wrong with it. It's a group of retired blokes playing a game of cricket," Maxwell told Fox Sports yesterday.

It means Lee could potentially return to the field only a few months after calling time on his professional career, though the test quick retired from the international game in 2012.

If it comes to fruition, the Cricket All Stars League could affect some domestic Twenty20 competitions such as the BBL and Indian Premier League, which often include former international cricketers.

Lee played in last summer's Big Bash League along with Flintoff and Kallis, who is contracted to return to the club for the 2015-16 season.

Under the reported proposal, a series of matches will be held around the world over a three-and-a-half-year period, with the US to host the first series of three matches in September.

New York, Los Angeles and Chicago are understood to be the leading contenders to hold matches.

The news follows a report two weeks ago claiming Australian stars Michael Clarke and David Warner were being targeted by an Indian conglomerate keen to offer them $50 million contracts to play in a new rebel Twenty20 league.

Essel Group, owned by millionaire media mogul Subhash Chandra confirmed its ambitions to launch an unnamed cricket venture, understood to be a new global Twenty20 tournament similar to Kerry Packer's creation of World Series Cricket.

The group also reportedly wants to create a breakaway world governing body for the sport.

— AAP