Lara signs up for the Indian Cricket League

Can anyone say "Kerry Packer"?

Brian Lara and Shane Warne are set to play in a multi-million dollar rebel series in India later this year,

Lara retired in April and has complained ever since that he's bored, so instead of making a return to international cricket, he will take part in the Indian Cricket League (ICL), the brainchild of the country's largest listed media group Zee Telefilms.

In an incredibly bland statement, Lara said: "It gives me great pleasure to join the ICL. I look forward to playing with promising youngsters from India and elsewhere along with some of my illustrious international counterparts who I've shared many an exciting moment with on the field."

One of those illustrious international counterparts is likely to be Shane Warne, according to "sources".

The ICL features six teams, each featuring four international players, two Indian stars and eight upcoming cricketers playing Twenty20 matches across India, though the dates and venues for the series, which has not been recognised by the ICC or the BCCI, have yet to be announced.

Kapil Dev is the ICL's chief executive, and Tony Greig, Dean Jones and Kiran More are all on the organising committee, and Sandeep Patil, Madan Lal and Balwinder Sandhu have signed up as coaches for three of the six proposed teams.

The BCCI has barred current India players and former players on its payroll from associating with the ICL, but those "sources" are saying that secret talks are taking place with many active national cricketers.

BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah is furious and the board's stance will not be changing. "We don't want to promote anybody who wants to be a parallel body. We have a policy and there will not be any re-think on this." [Carrie Dunn] [Image: Getty]