ECB agrees to talks with counties over IPL payments

The England and Wales Cricket Board will discuss new compensation deals for counties that lose players to the Indian Premier League in the wake of growing anger over the current system.

The counties learnt recently that the ECB receives 10 per cent of a player’s salary from the IPL but has not been passing the sums on to the clubs. The ECB argues the payments are reinvested in the game evenly and the counties also receive a rebate on the players’ salary as compensation for him not being available for championship cricket.

But Telegraph Sport understands the ECB wrote to the counties yesterday to say it will be reviewing the current deals. The 18 county chief executives and the MCC are due to meet the ECB tomorrow to discuss the new Twenty20 competition. The IPL compensation payments have now been added to the agenda.

The ECB will also look into a proposal for the return of a 50-over FA Cup-style knockout competition that has been developed by a working party chaired by Wasim Khan, the Leicestershire chief executive.

It would be a rebirth for the old Gillette Cup or Natwest Trophy that had a knockout format until 2006 when it was reorganised into a league. The 50-over competition has been in long decline and it was announced last year the Lord’s final will be shifted to Trent Bridge from 2020. It will be further sidelined when the new Twenty20 tournament is launched that summer.