Former pacer Jason Gillespie's association with the Indian Cricket League has cost him a chance to attend a Cricket Australia-backed two-week coaching session in Brisbane.
Gillespie was invited by the national team's bowling coach Troy Cooley to work with young fast bowlers at Brisbane's Centre of Excellence, but CA barred the former pacer from attending the session.
"I just found out that, because of my involvement in the ICL, that doesn't allow me to go and do any coaching there, which I think is quite unusual," a fuming Gillespie was quoted as saying by The Age.
"It would have been two weeks working with under-age kids. Blokes are available to help and they don't want to use us. No one has actually given us a proper reason why we are banned, from playing or coaching. They just say it is unofficial cricket. I'm finding it quite funny more than anything," he added.
Gillespie said CA should just admit that it is scared of the BCCI.
"Why don't they just come out and say they are scared of India and be done with it? That would shut me up. Don't give us lip-service," Gillespie said.
CA, on its part, said the decision to bar Gillespie was consistent with its policy of not supporting "unofficial cricket" like ICL.
"It is a common view among all ICC nations that we don't support unofficial competitions," said CA general manager of public affairs Peter Young.
"Where unofficial competitions recruit players from our stables it transfers value out of official cricket into other places, including into the pockets of private entrepreneurs. Based on that principle, we didn't believe it was appropriate to go ahead with a coaching offer.
"Where a player is involved in an unofficial competition, they are unable to support our cricket. It is the same as it was back in the early '70s with value being transferred out of community-owned cricket and into privately owned cricket," he added.
