ECB sweats over finding a new sponsor

London: With Vodafone deciding not to renew a four-million-pound-a-year sponsorship deal with it, the England and Wales Cricket Board fears a new financial backer would be hard to find in the middle of worsening economic crisis and reduced state funding.

The four-year agreement with the telecom giant ends after England's tour to South Africa next winter and the ECB is already losing sleep over finding a new sponsor.

"This is the first downturn in the period. It is going to be more difficult than the past, but cricket audience and media exposure are excellent and it will be down to the way we handle the market place. Renewals and extensions are easier to secure than new partners," admitted ECB commercial director John Perera.

Chairman of Sports Impact John Taylor, who negotiated sponsorship deals between the ECB and Tetley's and npower, said the ECB will find a sponsor nonetheless but the "question is at what price?" "The market is difficult at the moment. The top deals are still being done and smaller deals are still there, but the middle is being squeezed," he said.

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Shoaib not to pay the fine: Lawyer

Shoaib Akhtar's legal counsel on Sunday said that the fast bowler would not pay the seven million rupees fine, as demanded by the Pakistan Cricket Board as a pre-requisite to keep him in the Champions Trophy preliminary squad, until the court pronounced its verdict on his writ petition.

Abid Hasan Minto said Shoaib would pay the fine imposed on him by the appellate tribunal only when the Lahore High Court will make a final decision on the writ petition filed by him against the ban and fine."He has no objections to paying the fine but only when the high court reaches a final decision," Minto said. Shoaib and fellow pacer Mohammad Asif were selected by the national selection committee in Pakistan's 30-member preliminary squad. The list of probables was to be released by the Board on Friday, the deadline set by the International Cricket Council.

However, the Board held back the squad and called the selectors for fresh discussion tomorrow. They have also sent a notice to Shoaib asking him to pay the fine by Monday to be considered for selection.

The fine was imposed by an appellate tribunal, which reduced his original ban of five years to 18-months in June after Shoaib appealed against the PCB decision to ban him for five years.Shoaib had challenged the tribunal decision in the High Court which recently suspended the 18-months ban but did not stay the fine imposed on him.

Minto said the payment of the fine had nothing to do with the court decision allowing him to play for Pakistan even though the court will hear the case sometime in September.

"That has nothing to do with this ... the question is about playing of the cricketer. The ban on him playing has been removed by High Court's interim order, therefore as far as the fine is concerned, he will pay when the final decision of the High Court comes," he argued.

Minto also said it was up to the Board to decide if they wanted to select him or not.

"The ball is in their court. What they decide is up to them. If they want the devoid the national team of his presence and keep a first-class cricketer like him away from the team then it is their decision."They know that the fines that have been imposed on my client in the past have always been paid and he has never challenged them," he said.