Who Needs A Warm-Up Match?

The situation presents piquant points of interest—though everyone is mercenary in some way or the other, the mercenaries who earn millions somehow arouse contempt. So, while the very idea of mercenary sportsmen is loathsome, it’s acceptable if national interest doesn’t come into play. But during IPL 2009, it definitely will.

Geoff Boycott says "the way it’s being played in India, in the ICL and IPL, it’s going to take a lot of players out of Test cricket. There are a lot of players, like in New Zealand, who would say, ‘We really don’t want to join the team in the warm-up matches before the Tests. Because if we stay an extra three weeks in India, we can earn far more money than just playing in the warm-up matches for New Zealand’."

There’s a clear conflict here, and the ICC seems unsure about which way to tread. ICC’s communications officer James Fitzgerald told Outlook from Dubai: "There is no plan to alter the current ICC Future Tours Programme (FTP) to accommodate the IPL. No request has been made by the IPL or BCCI to adjust the FTP." But Haroon Lorgat, the man who’ll take over from Malcolm Speed as ICC chief executive, says the ICC would be willing to revise the FTP to create a ‘window’ for the IPL. "The IPL is something that is exciting and can be used to enhance and grow the game around the globe," Lorgat adds. "If we need to revisit the FTP, we will do that."

Around the globe, there is ambivalence about the IPL—the lure of the money is offset by the source of it, which will grant supreme powers to the BCCI. For money talks. Great Britain invented T20 five years ago, but now there’s a real fear that IPL money will take away their finest talent. England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Giles Clarke has said he expects their players to rest before next year’s Ashes, in June-August.

Sean Morris, chief executive of England’s Professional Cricketers’ Association, bristled: "It’s human nature that they (players) would want to play in the IPL. You can’t fight the market," he said. Batsman Kevin Pietersen, who had earlier displayed a robust disinterest in the IPL money, now says, "You want your best players playing both for their country and for the IPL. It’s silly to think that you’re losing up to a million (dollars) over six weeks."

Truly, greed is global.