GILES: ENGLAND, NOT IPL, WILL BE PRIORITY FOR PLAYERS
ENGLAND’S centrally contracted players are likely to miss the remainder of the Covid-19-hit Indian Premier League (IPL) season if it clashes with the team’s international schedule, managing director Ashley Giles said on Monday (10).
The IPL was suspended indefinitely last week after several players and staff tested positive for Covid. A potential window to complete the IPL is before the Twenty20 World Cup in October, when England are scheduled to tour Bangladesh and Pakistan.
“If those tours go ahead, I would expect them (players) to be there,” Giles told British media. “We’re planning on involvement of England players in England matches.”
Giles had previously agreed that England players who were involved in the latter stages of the IPL could miss the two-Test series against top-ranked New Zealand starting June 2.
“The New Zealand scenario was very different,” Giles said. “Those matches were formalised at the end of January, by which time contracts were signed for players to have full involvement in the IPL.”
Following the postponement of the IPL, England internationals Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali – all currently serving their 10-day isolation period in government-approved hotels – could now be available for selection.
But Giles said those cricketers in quarantine would not be rushed back into the team and England are likely to consider a bigger pool of players this summer.
“We need to look after them. With the amount of cricket they have got coming up, we are not going to rush or force them back into cricket,” Giles said.
“(Head coach) Chris Silverwood will work with each and every one of them, as will our medical teams, on what’s best for their progress.”
Meanwhile, Sourav Ganguly, head of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), told Indian media that Covid-19 restrictions meant it was impossible to stage the remaining games in India.
“There are lots of organisational hazards like 14-day quarantine. It can’t happen in India,” Ganguly said.
“This quarantine is tough to handle. It is too early to say how we can find a slot to complete the IPL.”
Warwickshire, Surrey and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) are keen to host the remaining matches in September, but a BCCI official told Reuters last Friday (7) they were yet to discuss the offer.
The entire 2020 IPL tournament was played in the United Arab Emirates because of the pandemic in India.