IPL still tempts England players

Giles Clarke's hopes that the deal with Allen Stanford would blunt the appeal of the IPL appears to have been overly optimistic. An annual poll by the Professional Cricketers' Association has revealed that half of the current England side are prepared to cut short their international careers to play in India.

"You can't blame the England players for thinking that way," Dougie Brown, the PCA's chairman, told the Daily Telegraph. "We're all in the game for a short period of time, and those people who spend a lot of time travelling the globe must find the idea of the IPL very appealing. These guys will be faced with the choice of spending 300 days away a year, or going to India for six weeks, and getting paid the same if not more money. There will be a fair bit of pressure coming from the family." Forty-five per cent of players said that they would consider playing in the ICL, regardless of a ban.

A sign of the changing priorities came in the results when players were asked what is the most important domestic competition. Before the start of the summer, 88% replied it was the Championship. Now, that figure is down to 62%. However, 90% of players stated that the Pro40 tournament was almost worthless.

The PCA also asked counties whether the number of Kolpak and overseas players should be limited. Fourteen said they wanted a minimum of eight England-qualified players per match, three suggested nine and one seven.