LANCASHIRE batsman Stuart Law has come out fighting in an escalating row that is threatening the county's participation in the lucrative Twenty20 Champions League event.

Plans were revealed over the weekend for an inaugural eight team competition to be played in late September involving the finalists of the domestic tournaments in India, South Africa, Australia and England.

It is a spin-off from the recent Indian Premier League event that has changed the face of cricket.

The winners of the Champions League, scheduled for either India or the Middle East, will get a whopping £2.5m.

The Rajasthan Royals and the Chennai Super Kings have qualified from India, Victoria and Western Australia from down under and the Titans and the Dolphins from South Africa.

The two English finalists are to be decided over the next three weeks of 20-over mayhem.

Lancashire Lightning kick off their North Division campaign with a tough trip to play two time Twenty20 Cup champions the Leicestershire Foxes tonight.

The Twenty20 effect has steamrolled cricket over the past eight months, with two competitions taking off in India. The first of these was an unsanctioned event called the Indian Cricket League and the second was the ICC sanctioned IPL. It is the former that is causing all the problems.

The new Champions League is the brainchild of Lalit Modi, the chairman of the IPL and the vice president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Banned

And he says that any player who has featured in the rebel ICL will automatically cause their county to be banned from the Champions League.

"Any ICL player categorically disqualifies his team from participating in the Champions League - no exceptions will be made," confirmed Modi.

Law is one of those, having captained the Chennai Superstars to the title last October, and so is Lancashire's overseas signing Lou Vincent.

The England and Wales Cricket Board have advised all counties who have an ICL player on their books to not play them in the Twenty20 Cup. Fifteen of the 18 first-class counties are in the same boat, with only Somerset, Essex and Middlesex in the clear.

And Law was in defiant mood last night as he said: "I am going to play in the Twenty20 Cup, and there is nothing anybody can do to stop me."

Although Modi's stance sounds definitive, it will be interesting to see what happens when all the counties defy such threats - as they are expected to do.

Modi's Champions League would be left in ruins.

Another issue which needs clarifying is team priority if a player has been involved with two or more teams who have qualified for the Champions League.

Modi has said that any cricketer signed up with the IPL must honour the Indian team's contract first.

If that ruling goes across the board Brad Hodge would play for Victoria instead of Lancashire, while Francois Du Plessis would play for the Titans.

Despite all of this, Lancashire chief executive Jim Cumbes said: "I think it's great for our domestic competition, as it will certainly bring an edge to it.

"It's great news for the players as well, because there is an opportunity for them to be successful and earn some money."

Lancashire will have England bowler James Anderson available for selection tonight.

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