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The call-up of Black Cap Brendon McCullum to keep wicket and swing his bat for New South Wales in the Australian domestic Twenty20 final has been described as "un-Australian" but others have no problem with the move.
The story has received a lot of press in Australia.
Fox Sports is carrying a story from the news wire AAP lauding the McCullum signing as one of the "most dramatic recruitment coups in domestic cricket history".
The story goes on to quote Australian international Andrew Symonds labelling NSW's move as "not Australian to me". "But is that what NSW cricket is having to do?," Asked Symonds.
"I would have thought a young player ... needs to get all the help and opportunities he can receive."
Australian captain Ricky Ponting said McCullum could win the game for New South Wales. "His ball striking ability is as good as anyone going around in the game. "NSW are excited to have him in their ranks and he is the type of player who could win them that final off his own bat," Ponting said.
AAP also quotes Bushrangers coach Greg Shipperd saying the the recruitment rules need clearing up. "At the moment these rules, to me, don't seem to be particularly clear," Shipperd said.
"Our view was not to play them [foreign players] domestically at this point in time but today's decision obviously might reopen that door.
"These rules are emerging and they're flipping and flopping at different times so we'll just go with the flow and roll with the regulations as they are unfolded to us."
NineMSN columnist Tony Jones bemoaned the advent of "cashed-up cricket", but admitted that NSW's opponents were planning exactly the same kind of stunt:
"Cricket Victoria had been negotiating with England's Andrew 'Freddy' Flintoff to pull on a Bushrangers top, but the current tour of the West Indies made it impossible.
"Clearly Cricket Australia needs to fix this loopholoe and it's understood administrators will look at introducing a qualifying period once this summer is out of the way."
The Sydney Morning Herald's Peter Roebuck writes that while "traditionalists" argue Australian domestic cricket should be reserved for Australians to nurture new talent, the Twenty20 format is lucrative.
He said McCullum's inclusion allows New South Wales the chance to secure McCullum for the upcoming champions tournament to be held in India. "A lot of money is at stake. Might as well give yourself a fair crack at winning it.
Moreover, McCullum is not a hack likely to prod around like a medical student at a belly. He is a match-winner."
"Although his appearance might not greatly improve relations between the states involved, he is entertaining and can change the course of contests," writes Roebuck.
He goes on to mention McCullum's quickfire 158 off 73 balls in his first IPL match.
According to the Australian newspaper, money did play a part in the decision. The national paper quotes NSW chief executive Dave Gilbert saying the "money we certainly need at the moment and money that we can use on our state programs. The more the better."
Cricket Australia has also supported the signing. "We're quite comfortable with what's happened today and it's pleasing to see so much interest and discussion surrounding the Big Bash," an unnamed CA spokesman is quoted.
The ABC network reports New South Wales captain Simon Katich saying that his side had been eyeing up McCullum for a while. "We were looking at him prior to this tournament starting, so even though he's only coming in for this final to qualify for the Champions League, he had been looked at for the whole tournament but was unavailable due to his commitments for New Zealand," Katich told the ABC.
