Modi was instrumental in the launch of the IPL in 2008

Yorkshire chief executive Stewart Regan has insisted that a meeting with Lalit Modi was simply a fact-finding mission.

Regan was one of three county officials who met the then Indian Premier League chairman - Modi has since been suspended from his post - in March.

Having seen a leaked email discussing the meeting, England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke questioned Modi's motives.

But Regan said: "There were no deals, no secret meetings, no offers made."

He was joined by officials from Lancashire and Warwickshire at a meeting arranged by marketing company IMG with Modi on 31 March, prior to the Indian businessman's suspension over allegations of financial impropriety.

A leaked email from Regan outlines the financial success of the IPL and suggests that Modi was keen for England to run a parallel competition based on the existing IPL franchises.

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But Clarke was alarmed when he learned of the discussions and sent an e-mail to Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) secretary N Srinivasan, claiming that Modi had acted without authority and planned to "destroy world cricket's structure and especially in England and create a new rebel league".

Following the meeting, there have been reports that plans to host a parallel IPL-style event in England were discussed, with existing IPL franchises bidding for involvement in the domestic game.

Hampshire, who were not present, are the only county to have a formal affiliation with an IPL franchise.

Regan, though, has insisted that far from being an attempt to undermine the county game, the meeting was a chance to learn from the IPL's success in mixing cricket and entertainment.

"It was a fact-finding mission and the elements of that that have been leaked to the press have been blown out of all proportion," he said.

"We talked about a variety of scenarios that could occur in the future and it was very much an above-board, transparent meeting.

"There was never any firm discussion of any league or any proposals actually discussed. What was debated was the success of the IPL and how it had grown to be one of the most world's most successful leagues inside two years.

"The questions being debated around that lunch table - and that's what it was more than anything, a lunch - were very much around how the IPL would develop in the future and how that success could be replicated around the world.

"We went to the lunch purely because we wanted to find out what had made the IPL so successful. The fact is they have converted sport into entertainment.

"They even use a word 'cricketainment'. It ties into the female market, it's linked with fashion, it's linked with big business in terms of sponsorship and that has caught the public's imagination.

The respective national governing bodies would be forced to watch helplessly while the game and the power of administration are hijacked BCCI charge sheet against Lalit Modi

"As a group of clubs we decided we wanted to see how that could happen."

Clarke's e-mail also called for IMG to be banned from world cricket, a demand that has led to an angry response.

"Representatives from ECB member counties requested a meeting with Lalit Modi through IMG. An informal lunch meeting took place in Delhi and was attended by IMG executives," the company said in a statement.

"The matters discussed included a general conversation about the challenges currently facing English cricket and the theoretical discussions about the possible modelling and commercial potential of an English Twenty20 tournament.

"As a matter of formality it was stated by IMG and acknowledged by all present prior to this discussion that the sovereignty and processes of ECB must at all times be respected, as must the relevant rules of all other official cricket bodies including the ICC.

"Any suggestion otherwise is baseless, untrue and defamatory."

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