Cricket: NZ boss denies free agent claim

Brendon McCullum's attempt to exploit a loophole forced the IPL to amend its rules. Photo / Paul Estcourt

New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan has denied a report that Brendon McCullum tried to turn down his contract in the hope of becoming a free agent and playing the entire Indian Premier League,

IPL commissioner Lalit Modi told the Sydney Morning Herald the New Zealand vice-captain tried to exploit a loophole in the system, which had since been closed.

However, Vaughan said last night that McCullum, captain Daniel Vettori, Jacob Oram, Ross Taylor and Jesse Ryder were simply given extra time to consider their options. "There were never any discussions along the lines of refusing his contract," Vaughan said. "That was never a possibility and as far as I was aware there was never any exploration of loopholes.

"At the time the IPL dates were yet to be confirmed and neither was the Australian tour dates, so we did not know what sort of overlap there would be.

"They wanted some clarity over that before signing their contracts. We wanted players who were fully committed to New Zealand cricket so they were given extra time to sign.

"The simple fact is they, including Brendon, all signed and that was a tremendous sign. There was no pressure from us and I don't believe there was any covert discussions between the players and the IPL either. They all wilfully signed."

The rewriting of the laws means England's Andrew Flintoff, who has a US$1.55 million contract with IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings, needs England Cricket Board permission to participate in the tournament in 2011 after he turned down a central contract offer.

- NZPA