Several solutions have been mooted by commentators and the British press, such as a reformatted and rescheduled championship, a reduction in the number of competitions or even a season break to allow a similar “English Premier League” in June or July.
All could still be considered after Tuesday’s announcement.
As well as the players’ enthusiasm, is the threat of an exodus from the national side if the ECB forces its stars to choose between the high wages and sponsorship of the IPL and Test cricket.
“England can’t afford to lose all their best players to the IPL, but the players have families to worry about, mortgages to pay and futures to consider,” the chairman of England’s Professional Cricketers’ Association, Dougie Brown, said last week. “You can’t blame them for looking at the chance of being able to earn twice as much in a month as they could do in a whole year and concluding, ‘I want a piece of that.’”
While the ECB wants to protect domestic cricket and the England side, TV companies are seeking to exploit the huge audience for the shorter form of the game — prompting the explosion in Twenty20 tournaments.
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