ECB makes plans to keep its stars in the fold

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is planning measures, including staging additional Twenty20 internationals, to keep the country's top players from being lured towards the Indian Premier League (IPL). England's stars earn basic salaries of approximately ₤ 400,000, in addition to endorsement deals, but stand to gain enhanced win bonuses and appearance fees from additional Twenty20 internationals that the board plans to arrange, the Times reported.

It is also believed that the 18 counties and leading venues, who have also been warned against hosting unofficial events, stand to gain financially. In an attempt to prevent players from flocking overseas to profitable Twenty20 tournaments the ECB has urged the counties to put their players on 12-month contracts rather than season-long ones. The ECB may also accept an offer from Allen Stanford, the American billionaire and brains behind the lucrative Stanford 20/20 in the Caribbean, who is reportedly willing to pay big bucks for a match between England players and his all-star XI.

The ECB chairman, Giles Clarke, arrived in New Zealand after a meeting of the 12-man management board in London on Wednesday and is expected to brief the touring party on the details of the plans.

The news came a day after Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, indicated that dates for future events could be altered to accommodate England players. Nobody from the country has joined the IPL yet because it clashes with their domestic season. The ECB however, has decided to prevent that scenario from cropping up.

Another idea under consideration is that the ECB changes the one-overseas-player-per-country rule to four for the next year, where Twenty20 matches are considered.

Kevin Pietersen has reiterated his commitment to England and Matthew Hoggard, who said the IPL was a topic of discussion within the team, followed suit. "There's a lot of stupid money flying about and I understand why a lot of people have gone to India to ply their trade," he said. "If you are getting four or five times your salary for six weeks' work, it can't be a bad job.

"But I want to play for England and play as many Tests as I can. Most of the guys want to play as much as they can for England, so I don't think it's going to be a massive draw on talent. But the IPL has got a lot of clout and maybe the International Cricket Council has realised that fact."