Rediff
Sydney, Jul 25: Shane Warne is ready to join the Indian Cricket League (ICL) provided his conditions are met while his former teammate Glenn McGrath is likely to follow suit, according to managers of the star Australian cricketers.
With former England captain Tony Greig acting as conduit, both the retired players are in negotiation with the ICL, Australian media reported in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Warne's manager James Erskine told 'The Australian' that he had been meeting Greig and Himanshu Modi, Project Head of the Zee group-backed ICL.
"They haven't offered what we have asked for, so negotiations are proceeding," Erskine told the daily.
"Provided the terms and conditions are right, Shane Warne will play, but it's a long way off before we get the contract signed."
The ICL authorities recently announced their first prized catch in West Indian batting great Brian Lara on a reported remuneration of USD 500,000 a year.
In Warne's case, the proposed pay package is reported to be USD 2 million for the next three years.
Though Warne, also the Hampshire captain, is scheduled to play for the county in the next two summers, it would not stop the leggie from playing in the Twenty20 tournament scheduled later this year, Erskine said.
The progress has been rather slow with McGrath even though his manager, Warren Craig, asserted that the lanky pacer has not ruled out playing in the league.
Revealing that he had initial meetings with the ICL officials, Craig said, "We certainly haven't ruled it out. Now that Lara has signed, things might start to hot up a bit. Things could start to move over the next week or so."
He said negotiation had not reached that stage where remuneration could be discussed.
"They haven't given us any indication," Craig said.
Dangling a winner's purse of USD 1 million, the proposed league would feature six teams -- each having four international players in the ranks -- which would play Twenty20 matches across India.
ICL has roped in India's lone World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev [Images] as Chairman of its Executive Board, where he is joined by Tony Greig, Australian cricketer-turned-commentator Dean Jones and former India stumper Kiran More.
Former players like Sandeep Patil, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Madan Lal, Rajesh Chauhan and Pranab Roy have also joined the rebel league in some capacity or the other.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), however, has refused to approve the league and in fact instructed its state associations and players to steer clear of it or risk incurring the Board's wrath.
More has already quit the secretary's post at the Baroda Cricket Association while Kapil has been told to choose between his ICL job and the National Cricket Academy Chairman's post.