England players will quit if ECB bans them from IPL, warns Giles
Ruling body fears central contracts could be rejected Board says it will not renege on agreement to release squad
England fear their top players will quit international cricket if they are not given permission to play in the Indian Premier League.
Ashley Giles, the England managing director, voiced his concerns after criticism over England’s rotation policy this winter that meant players missing Test matches in Sri Lanka and India while still being committed to a full IPL season, which starts next week.
With the IPL set to expand next year with two new teams, there is the prospect of more England players getting deals and the season encroaching further on the English summer. The ECB has allowed its contracted players to appear in a full IPL even though they may not be available for the first Test series of the summer against New Zealand.
Those two Tests were a late addition to the schedule and the ECB felt it could not ask players to lose IPL income for games that were not part of the original calendar.
However, it is understood the England players were surprised not to be called back in mid-may to begin preparing for New Zealand. They are worried they are being used to win favour with the Indian board as the ECB tries to persuade it to release India players for the Hundred.
Giles, however, is concerned that if England were to get tough on the IPL it could lead to a stand-off with players, who could start to turn down central contracts. “Our players love playing for England,” Giles told the BBC’S Tuffers and Vaughan show. “It could be a danger in the future. We don’t want to go toe-totoe with our players over IPL participation because we may face losing some of our best players.”
A central contract for a multi-format player can be worth more than £1 million and no player has turned down a full central contract at the peak of their careers since they were introduced in 2000. Giles is aware that players agreed their IPL contracts believing they would be available for the whole tournament.
“We don’t think it is right to renege on that agreement,” he said.
Covid passports, testing and masks are being considered for spectators as county cricket looks to welcome back crowds this summer.
The entire 2020 season was played behind closed doors, and counties are desperate for supporters to return after Covid-19 cost the domestic game more than £100 million.
There will be no crowds until May 17, when counties will be allowed 25 per cent of capacity, rising to 100 per cent from June 21, in line with the Government’s roadmap. It means the first six rounds of Championship matches will be played behind closed doors.
But the England and Wales Cricket Board has told the counties to set their budgets with only 50 per cent capacity in mind from June 21, so they are braced for lockdowns in case of Covid spikes. Neil Snowball, the ECB’S managing director of county cricket, has said the game will consider any public health criteria to ensure crowds can return.
Counties rely on gate money in the T20 Blast and income from memberships to survive. Many members agreed to donate their subscriptions last year, but counties are aware they cannot ask them to do that twice, so will consider testing and social distancing measures to keep grounds as Covid-safe as possible and meet requirements laid down by local authorities.
“The Government can put out advice and a roadmap, but a venue is responsible to its local Sage group and Public Health England department. Masks for some local PHES seem to be an important factor. If a combination of passports, testing, social distancing and some wearing of masks helps us get over the line, then so be it,” Snowball said.
The larger venues with conferencing facilities have suffered more in the pandemic, and a full picture of the losses across the county game will become clearer at the end of next month. But Snowball said it would be “north of £100million” and it would be “very challenging for some” if the season were played behind closed doors again.
“There is optimism with a degree of uncertainty. They have wintered OK. We went through last year with a number of support packages the ECB put in place to make sure everyone could get through to the end of the year,” he said. “It is clubs with larger venues and more diverse revenue streams who copped it more than others. Coming in to this summer, and on current re-forecasts, they are doing OK, but need to get crowds back.”
County supporters will be able to access digital streams of all matches this year via the ECB website and app after investment over the winter in better technology.
The digital streams were popular last summer with supporters denied access to grounds, and the ECB has given each county five cameras to give a better experience to the viewer. For the first time, the coverage will be brought together on one platform via the ECB site, although counties will continue to show action on their own channels.
“It is one of the most positive things to come out of last season. A number of counties have been investing in streaming, but with all cricket played behind closed doors it catapulted streaming into focus,” Snowball said. “There has been a lot more investment and collaboration this winter, so there will be a greater consistency of quality, a new central video hub so fans can watch matches simultaneously and live for the first time on the ECB app.”