IPL Franchises Sweating Over Australia's One-day Tour Schedule
IPL franchise holders are desperately trying to discover the status of Australia's one-day tour of Pakistan before Friday's player auction for the 2009 tournament
Indian Premier League franchise holders are desperately trying to discover the status of Australia's one-day tour of Pakistan before Friday's player auction for the 2009 tournament.
The outcome could sway the chances of some of the borderline England players in the auction — Ravi Bopara, Luke Wright, Samit Patel and Paul Collingwood — winning a contract.
Cricket Australia told Pakistan at an ICC board meeting last week that they would not tour the country because of safety concerns, but agreed to fulfil the series at a neutral venue in Dubai or Abu Dhabi.
If the original April itinerary, involving five ODIs and two Twenty20 matches, is retained then Australia's players will only be able to take part in about two weeks of IPL.
Some franchise owners are unwilling to consider players for such a short time-span. Equally, until IPL owners know the exact details of the Pakistan v Australia series, their recruitment policy to replace their present Australians has been thrown into doubt.
India is wary of pressing Australia to reduce the Pakistan tour, but some officials privately contend that now it has been switched to the United Arab Emirates, it would be natural to reduce the number of games.
Details of the itinerary are expected on 6 February – the date of the IPL auction in Goa – which could leave franchise owners with some difficult last-minute decisions.
Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, said: "I think the series will be going ahead. There is no hope of the series being played in Pakistan. But we are discussing dates and venues, which I will let the media know on Friday."
Australia have not toured Pakistan since 1998, although they did take part in a bilateral series in Colombo and Sharjah six years ago.
Brad Haddin, the Australian wicketkeeper, is one player affected by the uncertainty. Haddin withdrew from the final list because he was unable to attract a satisfactory reserve price, but his manager, Peter Lovitt, has suggested that his involvement in the auction still remains "a 50-50 bet".
The outcome could sway the chances of some of the borderline England players in the auction — Ravi Bopara, Luke Wright, Samit Patel and Paul Collingwood — winning a contract.
Cricket Australia told Pakistan at an ICC board meeting last week that they would not tour the country because of safety concerns, but agreed to fulfil the series at a neutral venue in Dubai or Abu Dhabi.
If the original April itinerary, involving five ODIs and two Twenty20 matches, is retained then Australia's players will only be able to take part in about two weeks of IPL.
Some franchise owners are unwilling to consider players for such a short time-span. Equally, until IPL owners know the exact details of the Pakistan v Australia series, their recruitment policy to replace their present Australians has been thrown into doubt.
India is wary of pressing Australia to reduce the Pakistan tour, but some officials privately contend that now it has been switched to the United Arab Emirates, it would be natural to reduce the number of games.
Details of the itinerary are expected on 6 February – the date of the IPL auction in Goa – which could leave franchise owners with some difficult last-minute decisions.
Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, said: "I think the series will be going ahead. There is no hope of the series being played in Pakistan. But we are discussing dates and venues, which I will let the media know on Friday."
Australia have not toured Pakistan since 1998, although they did take part in a bilateral series in Colombo and Sharjah six years ago.
Brad Haddin, the Australian wicketkeeper, is one player affected by the uncertainty. Haddin withdrew from the final list because he was unable to attract a satisfactory reserve price, but his manager, Peter Lovitt, has suggested that his involvement in the auction still remains "a 50-50 bet".
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