Reports: England likely to allow key players to skip Ireland series for 2017 IPL

What‘s the story?

England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are seriously deliberating the possibility of allowing their leading players to miss an ODI series against Ireland in order to participate in the 2017 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

According to The Telegraph, Director of England cricket Andrew Strauss is of the belief that the team’s big names can benefit immensely from the experience of playing in front of massive crowds and hence is ready to permit them to skip the international fixtures. However, skipper Eoin Morgan is likely to be called back in time should he go on to secure an IPL contract.

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The timing of the almost 2-month long IPL usually clashes with the English home season, both domestic as well as international. As a result, most of their star players have been finding it difficult to feature in the T20 league during the recent past.

Morgan, who is Irish by birth and played for Ireland at the start of his career, should be available for the series. As a result, the chances of him earning an IPL contract remain rather slim.

The heart of the matter

While Jos Buttler and Sam Billings already have IPL contracts with Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils respectively, Ben Stokes has expressed eagerness to take part in the cash-rich Twenty20 tournament. But, batting stalwart Joe Root is not expected to be put his name in the auction.

With his base price anticipated to be around £238,000 (INR 2 crores), Stokes felt, “I am an England player. So, the decision will get made on what would happen then. I'll just go with whatever – if they feel that it is best for the English guys who go out there to stay over there, then we'll follow that. And if they want us to come back to represent England, which is what our job is to do, then we'll come back and have no complaints.”

What next?

The 2017 IPL season is slated to be held from the first week of April and go on till the latter part of May. England will kick start their home summer on the 5^th of May with a 2-match ODI series against Ireland.

After the second ODI on the 7^th, they have a couple of weeks off before their next assignment (a 3-match ODI series against South Africa) begins.

Sportskeeda’s Take

The auction for the 2017 IPL edition is set to take place on the 4^th of February. With quite a few franchises already showing interest in signing him, Stokes could be among the top picks.

Seeing as their players have begun to embrace modern-day white-ball cricket, ECB will be eager to maximize their exposure by allowing them to feature in overseas tournaments. Though the Ireland series may appear to present an opportunity to test their bench strength, England cannot afford to take them for granted.