England Players Want to Join Ipl Says Modi

The head of the Indian Premier League (IPL) today said English cricketers are interested in playing in the league and could be accommodated into future tournaments on the subcontinent.

Lalit Modi, vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, thinks tinkering with the scheduling would allow a more global feel to the IPL. The inaugural 20-over extravaganza is being held in India between April 18 and June 1, which clashes with the opening six weeks of the English domestic summer.

"We have a huge amount of pressure from the English players [who want] to be participating in it," Modi told BBC Radio 5 Live. "Sooner or later we will look at adjusting our programmes while we try to bring our league forward. The objective would be in the future we would be working with the ECB to ensure the overlap doesn't take place."

Finding a window of compatibility will be difficult, however, with England scheduled to tour the Caribbean between February and April 2009. And there is a feeling around the counties that avoiding a clash is necessary to ensure the participation of the best players in our domestic game. For example, nine of the Australian side which secured a 5-0 Ashes whitewash over England had spells in county cricket. But the amount of cash on offer now from the subcontinent - Andrew Symonds is being paid in excess of $650,000 for his involvement this year alone - may alter the direction in which the best Australians head.

"We have to find a way of working with the IPL," said the Nottinghamshire coach Mick Newell. "It's a domestic tournament in India but it needs to be fitted into the international cricket calendar because it is being played by the best players."

Nottinghamshire have been left in limbo after David Hussey, who has signed a deal as overseas player at Trent Bridge for 2008 and 2009, signed with the IPL. "It's still all up in the air," Newell said. "He's signed a two-year deal here and then he's signed over there. This is all part of the problem counties have in signing overseas players: you are nervous if you sign full-time internationals because they can disappear during the season, and the more cricket that goes on, the harder it will be for us to get the quality."