England players to skip remainder of IPL: England and Wales Cricket Board

LONDON: Even as the Indian cricket board hopes to complete remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL), possibly at an overseas destination, the English board has put its foot down in favour of international cricket, ruling out the possibility of English cricketers playing in the league.

"We're planning on the involvement of England players in England matches. We've got a full FTP schedule. So if those tours to Pakistan and Bangladesh [in September and October] are going ahead, I'd expect the players to be there," England men's director of cricket Ashley Giles told British media here.

While the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is looking for a window in September — between the home series against India and the T20 World Cup - or after the T20 World Cup ends in November, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) wishes to follow the tight schedule as laid out in the Future Tours Programme (FTP).

England play New Zealand in two Tests on June 2-14 in a series that was hastily arranged and Giles said the IPL players were allowed to skip the Test series as an exception since their IPL contracts were already formalised.

"The New Zealand scenario was very different. Those Test matches were formalised at the end of January, by which time all those contracts and NOCs [no objection certificates] were signed for full involvement in the IPL," he said further.

"None of us knows what a rearranged IPL looks like at the moment; where it's going to be or when. But from when we start this summer against New Zealand, our programme is incredibly busy. We've got a lot of important, high-profile cricket including the T20 World Cup and the Ashes. And we're going to have to look after our players."

England are expected to tour Bangladesh in September immediately after hosing India in a five-Test series and then they travel to Pakistan in mid-October.

They play the T20 World Cup, scheduled to be held in October-November, after that and then travel to Australia for Ashes that begins on December 8.

They then have a limited overs series in West Indies just after Ashes in January and they follow it up with a limited-overs series which means they are tied up till the next IPL. IANS

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