Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne plan to start a T20 tournament for retired greats

Competing against each other, they created some of cricket's most magical moments. Now, legends Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar seem set to stir up some more excitement. The two are reported to be coming together to start a new Twenty20 competition for retired greats.

According to unconfirmed reports, Warne and Tendulkar have offered 28 big-name ex-players contracts worth $25,000 (about Rs 15 lakh) a match, with 15 Twenty20 games planned for the Cricket All Stars League over a 42-month period.

Tendulkar's spokesperson declined to comment. However, sources close to the development said that it would be an exaggeration to call it a league. “At the moment, they are just planning to put together some T20 matches," said the sources.

'The Australian' reported that players believed to have been contacted included Australians Brett Lee, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Glenn McGrath, along with Michael Vaughan and Andrew Flintoff from England, and South African Jacques Kallis. Cricket greats Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar are planning to start a new Twenty20 competition for former international players, reports said on Friday. The Australian newspaper said none of the players it contacted wanted to discuss the proposal, but there was concern about the push to sign a onepage contract with the promise of more details to follow.



“Warne is in Britain but has been actively spruiking (promoting) the idea. He hinted this year that he and Tendulkar had formed a business that would be launching during the year," it said.

Cricket Australia did not offer any comment on Friday, but has said previously that anything that promotes and grows the game in new and emerging markets is good for cricket, as long as it doesn't use current contracted players.

Lee's manager Neil Maxwell confirmed his client had received an offer and would be seeking permission from CA to play. “I can't see anything wrong with it, it's a group of retired blokes playing a game of cricket," Maxwell told Fox Sports on Friday. Under the reported proposal, a series of matches will be held around the world over a three-and-a-halfyear period, with the US to host the first series in September. New York, Los Angeles and Chicago were cited as the leading contenders to host the matches in the US.