By Oliver Brett BBC Sport Online

Cricket is so keen these days to project itself as a global business. And to make the sport profitable, sponsorship is crucial.

The International Cricket Council is proud of its ability to develop the game in every corner of the world.

It has increased its staff, installed an anti-corruption unit to stamp out match-fixing and expects next year's World Cup to take the game to its biggest audience ever.

Players set for compromise

But along the way, there are going to be some tough hurdles to overcome and one such obstacle has been reached now.

Players are being asked to sign a contract which "safeguards the commercial interests" of the ICC Champions Trophy.

Either they are making the choice of not playing or being in breach of an existing contract

David Graveney England players' representative

Tendulkar has serious conflicts to address

Take Sachin Tendulkar. The world's most recognisable cricketer - the David Beckham of cricket, if you will - has deals with a number of firms.

They include the electronics giant Samsung and the car firm Fiat. It so happens that the ICC Champions Trophy is backed by LG and Toyota, who are direct competitors.

David Graveney, chief executive of the Professional Cricketers Association, which represents the interests of the England players, says the players' viewpoint must be respected.

He told BBC Sport Online: "It's a very complex scenario and the situation has left the players in a very difficult position.

"Either they are making the choice of not playing or being in breach of an existing contract.

Confident

"But I'm pretty confident an agreement will be reached. I've just spoken to [Australian team representative] Tim May.

"He's the leading negotiator with the ICC and we are hoping that a satisfactory agreement can be reached."

Graveney said a similar stand-off had dogged the build-up to the 1999 World Cup and there is talk that next year's World Cup may be affected in a similar way.

Other sports have had their fair share of problems with sponsors and players. Perhaps the first instance of a sportsman feeling sponsors were taking too big a role involved Johan Cruyff in the 1974 World Cup final.

Cruyff's shirt should have had three stripes

Cruyff refused to wear Adidas boots supplied under a contract agreed with the German manufacturer, and he even played in a shirt with only two stripes instead of Adidas's famous three.

Michael Jordan famously draped an American flag over his Reebok tracksuit during the Basketball medal ceremony at the 1996 Olympics.

He needed to avoid being pictured with the logo which would have offended his Nike sponsors.

And more recently, New Zealand were refused the right to co-host the Rugby World Cup in October next year because they insisted on retaining pre-booked advertising at venues.

The simple truth is that money rules in sport these days, be it cricket, football or rugby. And where sponsors get in the way there are bound to be difficulties.

Cricketers could argue that since they are paid so little compared to other sports stars, a little leniency should be applied.

But that theory is unlikely to attract much sympathy at the ICC.