KEY POINTS:
Former test and one-day stars Nathan Astle and Chris Cairns have been targeted to sign with the Indian Cricket League.
The month-long Twenty20 competition is being bankrolled by broadcaster Zee Telefilms and will run in opposition to the domestic competition of the BCCI, Indian cricket's governing body.
This, in effect, marks the six-team competition as a 'rebel' league, so securing centrally contracted players from any of the ICC full member countries will be impossible unless players are willing to forego their contracts to chase the rupees.
The league's creative head, Ajay Kapoor, will bolster his stocks with recently retired and fringe players.
Glenn McGrath has been mentioned in dispatches and Brian Lara, who has already indicated he will play again soon, is set to become the biggest coup.
Both Astle and Cairns are popular players in the cricket-mad country and would add value to the hit-and-giggle tournament.
In the West Indies, the Stanford Twenty20 tournament, bankrolled by Texan billionaire R. Allen Stanford, has proved very popular and has generated much-needed revenue for the region's cricketers.
Black Caps manager Lindsay Crocker said New Zealand Cricket officials remained relaxed about the tournament.
