Broad Turns His Back on India's Riches As England Team-mates Clamber for Ipl Berths
England's highest-ranked one-day bowler has opted not to join the 13 England centrally-contracted players seeking Indian Premier League paydays
Stuart Broad, England's highest ranked bowler in one-day cricket, has turned his back on at least £100,000 by not putting himself forward for auction in the second season of the Indian Premier League.
Thirteen of England's 19 contracted players – Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Steve Harmison, Monty Panesar, Ryan Sidebottom, Ravi Bopara, Samit Patel, Owais Shah, Graeme Swann and Luke Wright – have put themselves forward for this April's tournament, which runs from 10 April to 29 May, though it has been agreed that England's leading players can go for only three weeks.
Broad is one of six players – Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Matt Prior, Tim Ambrose and Michael Vaughan are the others – who have turned their back on a possible fortune. England have only two players – Pietersen and Flintoff – likely to win franchise contracts. But Broad, along with Shah, would have been one of the next favorites for the few remaining slots in the IPL's second season.
Hugh Morris, the managing director of the England cricket team, said last night: "It's very much down to the players. It's their choice. The IPL is a fantastic opportunity for players. With the Twenty20 world championship happening in England at the beginning of the summer, it's nice to have the opportunity for some our players to play Twenty20 cricket.
"It's a good opportunity for players but it's a good opportunity for us. We've got a very important summer ahead of us with the Twenty20 and the Ashes and this is a decision Stuart has made and we must respect that.
"The players who are going there are going to be playing with and against some of the best players in the world in what we see as a very high-profile and very important tournament. Players will prepare in different ways for this summer. Stuart has chosen one way and others have chosen another way."
An unofficial list circulating in India yesterday also contained the non-Test players James Foster and Rob Key along with the surprise name of Darren Gough, who retired from first-class cricket at the end of last season. Gough, 38, was unaware that he was under consideration until he was phoned by another England old-timer, the Middlesex captain, Shaun Udal.
Thirteen of England's 19 contracted players – Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Steve Harmison, Monty Panesar, Ryan Sidebottom, Ravi Bopara, Samit Patel, Owais Shah, Graeme Swann and Luke Wright – have put themselves forward for this April's tournament, which runs from 10 April to 29 May, though it has been agreed that England's leading players can go for only three weeks.
Broad is one of six players – Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Matt Prior, Tim Ambrose and Michael Vaughan are the others – who have turned their back on a possible fortune. England have only two players – Pietersen and Flintoff – likely to win franchise contracts. But Broad, along with Shah, would have been one of the next favorites for the few remaining slots in the IPL's second season.
Hugh Morris, the managing director of the England cricket team, said last night: "It's very much down to the players. It's their choice. The IPL is a fantastic opportunity for players. With the Twenty20 world championship happening in England at the beginning of the summer, it's nice to have the opportunity for some our players to play Twenty20 cricket.
"It's a good opportunity for players but it's a good opportunity for us. We've got a very important summer ahead of us with the Twenty20 and the Ashes and this is a decision Stuart has made and we must respect that.
"The players who are going there are going to be playing with and against some of the best players in the world in what we see as a very high-profile and very important tournament. Players will prepare in different ways for this summer. Stuart has chosen one way and others have chosen another way."
An unofficial list circulating in India yesterday also contained the non-Test players James Foster and Rob Key along with the surprise name of Darren Gough, who retired from first-class cricket at the end of last season. Gough, 38, was unaware that he was under consideration until he was phoned by another England old-timer, the Middlesex captain, Shaun Udal.
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