Calcutta: With the popularity of the Indian Premier League on an upswing, two legends of the game, Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne, reportedly have plans to host a series of T20 matches around the world, with the first round in three US cities in September.

According to a report in The Australian, Tendulkar and Warne plan to take 28 retired cricketers on board for the "Cricket All Stars League" and have sent initial contracts out in the past week.

Australians Brett Lee, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Glenn McGrath; England's Michael Vaughan and Andrew Flintoff, and South African Jacques Kallis have reportedly been contacted.

The former stars are being offered $25,000 for a match with 15 Twenty20 games planned over a 42-month period.

None of the players contacted by The Australian had wanted to discuss the proposal, but there is concern about the push to sign a one-page contract with the promise of more details to follow.

Warne is in England, but has been actively pushing the idea. He hinted this year that he and Tendulkar had formed a business that would be launching during the year.

While the recruitment of former players is not an immediate threat to established cricket, the Indian Premier League, Australia's Big Bash League and a number of officially sanctioned domestic Twenty20 tournaments have profited from the use of retired international stars.