Any hopes the International Cricket Council might have harboured that its hard-line stance on the thorny issue of contracts would lead to all and sundry meekly obeying seem to have been scotched after a stinging rebuke from Tim May, chief executive of the Australian Cricketers' Association. ICC wants to impose strict third-party sponsorship restrictions to try and avoid so-called "ambush marketing" by rivals companies of the official sponsors of the Champions Trophy and the World Cup. May, who has been a leading figure in voicing concerns over ICC's policy, accused it of being a "bully boy" after it sent out guidelines restricting player images for up to six months after one of its events.

So far only Zimbabwe and New Zealand have agreed to fall into line, but other leading countries have failed to meet last Friday's ICC deadline, by which time all players were supposed to have signed the contracts.

India, where the vast bulk of the players' incomes derives from off-field endorsements, appears ready to send an under-strength squad to the Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka starting on September 12. Key players such as Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly would lose substantial sums of money by agreeing to ICC's terms.

The Indian cricket board (BCCI) have asked their players to sign for the ICC Champions Trophy only, promising that they would then raise the matter with ICC ahead of the World Cup.

May called on ICC to meet with the Federation of International Cricketers' Association (FICA) and players' associations to resolve the matter.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd