Australians’ stand on Indian Premier League?
MIL/Guardianweekly, Feb 14, 2008.
February 14, 2008 - In the next week meeting of the World Game’s National Boards, which is to meeting in Kuala Lumpur, have included the issue of as permanent slot for the lucrative Indian Premier League on international cricket. This is such a move that may alter the entire face of the cricket.
Cricket Australia has said it is prepared to consider the possibility of making space in the International Cricket Council's future tours programmed for the money-spinning IPL - a multinational, 44-day, Twenty20 competition scheduled to begin in April - despite currently being involved in a disagreement with its centrally contracted players over potential sponsorship clashes arising out of playing in India.
"James Sutherland [Cricket Australia chief executive] is willing to participate in discussion and debate about creating a window in the future tours programme so players can play in the IPL, as long as it is a window that recognises the genuine interests of the FTP and all 10 ICC nations," said a CA spokesman. "We are still of the view that [the contract disagreement] is capable of resolution. It's going to be tough, but we believe we can get through."
The apparent softening of Australia's stance follows an ultimatum delivered by the IPL chairman, Lalit Modi, who this week told Australia's players they must sign up by Sunday or miss out on three years' participation in a tournament which could triple a player's annual earnings in the space of six weeks.
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