West Indies Winter Tour Schedule Opens Ipl Door to Pietersen

Kevin Pietersen can anticipate a £2m jackpot from the Indian Premier League after England yesterday unveiled a West Indies tour itinerary for next winter that does not clash with the Twenty20 competition that has made millionaires of a select band of international cricketers.

England's tour ends on April 3 with a one-day international in St Lucia, a week before the start of the IPL, which runs until May 29. If Peter Moores, England's coach, gives his blessing, Pietersen will be able to play the entire tournament, returning to England for the World Twenty20 in June and the Ashes series that follows.

Speculation is rife that he will surpass the record £750,000 a year awarded by Chennai to India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni this year. Pietersen's agent, Adam Wheatley, said: "Kevin Pietersen would be fantastic in IPL. He is such a dynamic player. It would be excellent if we could get it together. It is very difficult to ignore the fact that England players want to play in the IPL and it is fair to say that the England and Wales Cricket Board have now accepted that this is an issue. It is impossible to justify to players without any basis of logic that they can't play in the IPL when the best players in the world are doing so."

Pietersen has not disguised his annoyance over missing the 2008 tournament. He professed himself "disappointed and irritated that England's players have been stopped going so far" and said he "definitely" wants to play in 2009.

England are due to host a tour from Zimbabwe in May 2009, but if Robert Mugabe's government remains in power in the African country cancellation would seem inevitable - even though the prime minister, Gordon Brown, has yet to say whether he will advise that the tour should be called off.

If it does take place England may field an experimental side. The ECB's concern about injuries ahead of the Ashes, which has been expressed by the chairman Giles Clarke, has been toned down. Wheatley said: "It is possible to say 'What about injuries?' but whatever you do, that is one of the things you can't allow for."

Other England players likely to attract Indian suitors include the one-day captain Paul Collingwood, Stuart Broad, Matt Prior, Sajid Mahmood, Ravi Bopara and Monty Panesar. Andrew Flintoff has said that an absence from the Test side for 18 months because of injury makes the 2009 Ashes series his priority.