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The Indian Premier League (IPL) has effectively ring-fenced the entire New Zealand team in a sensational week that has seen several more players sign deals with the Twenty20 league.
In an extraordinary development, the Herald on Sunday has learned seven more New Zealand-contracted players have signed with the league and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) wanted to suppress all details for fear of being increasingly seen as world cricket's soft touch.
So far the seven - on top of Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori, Stephen Fleming, Jacob Oram and Scott Styris who were signed in the original 'draft' - have not been named but, by process of elimination, it's not difficult to surmise Kyle Mills, Ross Taylor, Chris Martin, Jeetan Patel and Jamie How will be clutching contracts.
All have inked retainers worth between $40,000 and $100,000 in lieu of not signing for the 'rebel' Indian Cricket League (ICL). Not all of them, however, are expected to enter the IPL's second auction on Tuesday night. Mills and Taylor are tipped to feature but New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan said he had no inside knowledge on that subject, it being a case of the players making their own deals with the IPL.
"We had nothing to do with the agreements so we don't know who will enter the auction," Vaughan said.
Even the secrecy cannot detract, though, from what must be viewed as a good week for NZC who now have 11 players on their books - and the retiring Fleming - who are unlikely to be tempted away to the ICL.
Vaughan said while he must sign off on all of the contracts, he remained in the dark as to who would go to auction. The release would be a mere formality given the board's stance on using the IPL as encouragement not to sign for the ICL.
Vaughan said dialogue between himself and BCCI and IPL boss Lalat Modi was likely instrumental in the splurge of signings.
"It could be. Looking from afar, New Zealand appears to be the country participating the most in the ICL. They are trying to extinguish the ICL so it is in both of our interests, really. Maybe they could see a critical mass forming."
It's understood Modi wanted the deals to remain quiet so as not to encourage the likes of the West Indies to push forward players who did not really warrant contracts.
Vaughan would not give details of the specific dates for the release of players, given the uncertainty surrounding the second auction.
If Mills and Taylor are picked up in the auction, it will likely spell bad news for McCullum, Vettori and Oram, who were hoping to join the tour to England late.
The IPL pays on a pro-rata basis and another couple of games would have been lucrative to those three who are all on more than US$600,000 per year.
However, Vaughan has said it's unlikely NZC would allow five players to join the tour late.
