Spectre of IPL auction hangs on England dressing room

The goodish news is that only four members of the squad in the West Indies - Kevin Pietersen (bidding starts at $1.35m), Andrew Flintoff ($950,000), Paul Collingwood ($250,000) and Owais Shah ($150,000) - are on the IPL list. Three others - Ravi Bopara ($150,000), Samit Patel ($100,000) and Luke Wright ($150,000) - are in England. In theory, this limits the scope for jealousy. But then in theory, the Stanford match was a simple enough proposition too, and look how England failed to get their heads round that one.

It's true that other dressing rooms round the world failed to implode with envy when the first auction took place a year ago in Mumbai. But England's circumstances right now are particularly sensitive. Pietersen is putting a brave face on the treatment he received at the hands of his team-mates and the England and Wales Cricket Board; Flintoff has had to admit he backed Peter Moores; and Andrew Strauss is doing his best to hold the whole thing together with the help of Andy Flower, a decent man who isn't even sure whether he wants to be coach. The blue touch paper is waiting to be lit.