Launching a fresh round of war of words, the International Cricket Council on Saturday said the questions raised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India over the terms of player contracts are "out of date and irrelevant", and stressed that it is critical that the BCCI acts quickly to fulfill "its contractual commitments to world cricket".

Welcoming the BCCI's decision to call a Special General Meeting to discuss the issue, ICC president Malcolm Gray urged the Indian board not to go into "irrelevant" issues which, he claimed, have already been addressed by ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed.

"Putting aside what is or isn't in various agreements prior to signing the Participating Nations Agreement, the fact is that these matters have been superceded by the latest agreement," Gray said, emphasizing that the BCCI had "knowingly and willingly" entered into the agreement in March 2002.

Gray was replying to BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya's charge that the restrictive clauses were included in the original contract draft without the BCCI's knowledge.

"All details of the obligations on the BCCI and its players were provided to the Indian board on December 21, 2001 in the BCCI's Participating Nations Agreements. All these obligations were acknowledged and accepted by the BCCI when it signed its PNA on March 13, 2002 without qualification," Gray said in a statement.

"If necessary, the previous agreements will be made available to an appropriate body at an appropriate time after the World Cup but the issue today is the need for the BCCI to meet its obligations and for the best team to represent India in the World Cup," Gray said.

The ICC, on Thursday, made, what it called, its 'final offer' on the contracts issue, incorporating a series of concessions to ensure the participation of the leading Indian cricketers -- who are opposing certain restrictive clauses because of their pre-existing contracts and the heavy financial losses they stand to suffer -- in the World Cup.

On Friday, the BCCI stopped just short of rejecting the offer, hinting that it would not be possible to accept the terms and accused the ICC of pushing it "to a position of impossibility".

However, the BCCI left a final decision on its Special General Meeting, to be held in Kolkata on December 25.

"An emergency Special General Meeting of the BCCI to deal with the Indian board's contract crisis is a welcome step in the right direction and an indication that the BCCI recognises the seriousness of the contractual commitments it has undertaken," Gray said.

"With the potential of large damages claims being brought against the Indian board if it is unable to meet its contractual obligations, it is important that the organisation is able to get a clear understanding of the facts of this issue.

"It is also important for all the members of the BCCI to realise that the substantial concessions negotiated by the ICC are as far as it can go without undermining the integrity of the $US550 million agreement with Global Cricket Corporation," Gray said.

The Contract row - the complete coverage