Hampshire allow Carberry IPL opportunity

Hampshire have decided to allow Michael Carberry to enter the auction for the 2015 IPL. Carberry, who was the fifth-highest run-scorer at the Big Bash as his team, Perth Scorchers, lifted the title, could miss the first six weeks of the Championship season if he gets a contract.

The IPL auction will take place on Monday, with the tournament set to run from April 8 until May 24. The first round of Championship fixtures in England begins on April 12.

Hampshire have not confirmed whether Carberry will have a minimum price tag when the bidding takes place - as Nottinghamshire stipulated when Alex Hales and Samit Patel were included last year. Neither attracted a bid in excess of the $400,000 base price.

Carberry, 34, has not played for England since last summer, when he made ODI and T20 appearances against Sri Lanka. He played all five Tests of the 2013-14 Ashes but questioned his treatment by the selectors in a newspaper interview.

Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara were all included on the long list of 724 names seen by ESPNcricinfo, ahead of the eighth edition of the IPL. English players have tended to attract little interest, due to the ECB limiting the availability of contracted players and the clash with the domestic season.