Report says ECB refused permission for IPL teams to play in Ireland and Scotland
A report on ESPNCricinfo website has revealed that the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) decision to discourage exhibition matches involving Indian Premier League (IPL) teams in Scotland and Ireland caused the Board of Control for Cricket in India (bcci) to disallow English county cricketers from sharpening their skills in India.
Sanjay Jagdale
ADVERTISEMENT
The report said: “Tensions surfaced at the end of the fifth IPL last year when the BCCI approached both Cricket Ireland and Cricket Scotland directly, to check if they were interested in playing exhibition matches against a team of IPL players from different
franchises. It is understood that Cricket Ireland’s initial response to the offer was that they did not have sufficient funds to host the matches. In response, the BCCI said it would underwrite the players’ costs and that the arrangement would therefore be financially attractive.”
BCCI’s muted response to permission requests stopped county cricketers from Yorkshire, Durham, Kent, Hampshire, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire and Nottinghamshire training in India where they would be coached under the Global Cricket School.
Only recently, the Mumbai Cricket Association was questioned by the BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale as to how the England Performance Programme (EPP) squad played at DY Patil Stadium in Nerul when a decision had been taken at the BCCI’s Annual General Meeting in September not to allow any foreign team here without permission of the BCCI.
Cricinfo has learned that ECB refused to sanction the matches involving IPL teams because they feared it would affect their broadcasting deal with Sky TV which hold TV rights in England, Ireland and Scotland.
An unnamed BCCI official told the website, “discussions are still on but it has to be a two-way process. We can’t see how we can allow the counties to send their players to practice here when the ECB refuses to allow the IPL players to play even in Ireland. They must explain why they did it.” u00a0
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
