For the ECB, the emergence of the IPL presents a challenge on two fronts, says Richard Hobson in The Sunday Times. Early evidence suggests a struggle on both, with an unsustainable stance of blocking centrally contracted players who wish to cash in and the most timid of recommendations to the domestic structure.
English caution in Twenty20 has been costly as with IPL the bird has flown to the East and begun to deliver bigger nuggets, says Hobson, who feels that India, galvanised by a “rebel” league, has seized 20-over cricket. When an Indian administrator sneezes, the ECB catches the cold.
In the Sunday Telegraph, Simon Briggs spoke to IS Bindra, one of the IPL co-founders, who defended the competition.
The men running the IPL might be expected to resent these attempts to muscle in on their territory. Bindra, in fact, says he welcomes the expansion of the IPL concept. "We want to work together with other boards to make the official structure of domestic and international cricket as strong as possible," he said. "The ECB is a good example, because the rebels are already looking to expand into grounds in England.
In the same newspaper Richard Sydenham caught up with Dean Headley, ambassador for the Professional Cricketers' Association. Headley warns that the ECB may face "catastrophic" player losses if they do not soften their stance on the participation of England players in the lucrative IPL.
