Australians Soften Line on Indian Premier League

A permanent slot for the lucrative Indian Premier League on international cricket's already crowded fixture list will be on the agenda when the chief executives of the world game's national boards meet in Kuala Lumpur next week.

In a move which would irrevocably change the face of the sport for years to come, Cricket Australia has said it is prepared to consider the possibility of making space in the International Cricket Council's future tours programme for the money-spinning IPL - a multinational, 44-day, Twenty20 competition scheduled to begin in April - despite currently being involved in a disagreement with its

centrally contracted players over potential sponsorship clashes arising out of playing in India.

"James Sutherland [Cricket Australia chief executive] is willing to participate in discussion and debate about creating a window in the future tours program so players can play in the IPL, as long as it is a window that recognizes the genuine interests of the FTP and all 10 ICC nations," said a CA spokesman. "We are still of the view that [the contract disagreement] is capable of resolution. It's going to be tough, but we believe we can get through."

The apparent softening of Australia's stance follows an ultimatum delivered by the IPL chairman, Lalit Modi, who this week told Australia's players they must sign up by Sunday or miss out on three years' participation in a tournament which could triple a player's annual earnings in the space of six weeks.

The Australian board has been concerned that the IPL's sponsors might clash with those of its own national side, but Modi has refused to back down, and on Wednesday the eight Indian companies who bid more than $700m (£360m) between them for IPL's eight franchises will bid once more to choose players from the glittering pool of international talent that has already pledged its services. Modi says he is happy for Australia's contracted players - including Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Andrew Symonds, Brett Lee and Adam Gilchrist - to join up without permission from their board.

Now Sutherland's acceptance of the IPL's inevitable growth and financial clout seems likely to pave the way for the international community to sanction an annual slot for a competition that was conceived after the birth of the rebel Indian Cricket League last year. England are so far the only major international side not to have committed players to the IPL, but all that could change after next week's meeting.