Australia will send a full-strength squad to next month's Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka. The Australian Cricket Board (ACB) and the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) said that both parties will sign a participating nations agreement. But Tim May, chief executive of the ACB, said the players would only sign papers subject to the International Cricket Council (ICC) consulting with them on sponsorship deals. ICC wants players to sign contracts preventing them from promoting their individual sponsors for 30 days before and after next February's World Cup in South Africa.

Leading players from India and England have also baulked at signing the ICC contracts because of concerns over existing sponsorships. A resolution covering the World Cup had yet to be reached, officials said.

James Sutherland, the ACB's chief executive, said negotiations would be dealt with one tournament at a time and that in a worst-case scenario, players could be financially compensated if their endorsements conflicted with those of the ICC.

May has sent the agreement signed by the Australian players to cricket associations overseas and was hopeful it would be used as a model to encourage other countries to commit full-strength squads to the Champions Trophy.

But there is still no sign of any such progress in South Africa, England and West Indies. In India, the selectors have named a provisional 25-man squad, excluding the players currently on tour to England, if leading fiogures like Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly refuse to sign up.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd