Bangladesh offers amnesty to 'rebel' cricketers

Bangladesh has offered amnesty to 14 cricketers who played in the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL), asking them to scrap contracts by June 15 to have their bans withdrawn, an official said Saturday.

Bangladesh Cricket Board spokesman Jalal Yunus told AFP that the cricketers who joined the Twenty20 cricket meet have to sever their links and then apply for readmission into domestic and national cricket.

"We have taken a very soft approach. They have to scrap their deals with the ICC (International Cricket Council)-disapproved ICL by June 15 and then apply to us. We'll then allow them to play domestic matches," he said.

"If they prove their worth in the domestic leagues, we will consider them for the national cricket team from January 1 next year. We have reopened the door and now it's their choice whether they want to play for Bangladesh again."

The 14 players including former Bangladesh captain Habibur Bashar were given a 10-year ban last September for joining the unauthorised ICL, bankrolled by India's top media group Zee Telefilms.

All 14 featured in the ICL's Dhaka Warriors team in the last season. The team includes 11 current or former internationals.

Media reports said the players had signed up for 200,000 dollars each for a three-year period but the ICL declined to reveal the financial details.

Several players have in recent weeks told local media that they would like to play for the national team again and sought blanket amnesty from the cricket board.

Bashar said the amnesty offer opened a window for the rebel players.

"It's a positive move. We can now see some lights at the end of the tunnel. We have some time to think," he told AFP.