English players could be banned from the Indian Premier League for two years if they withdraw from the competition in a move to increase their committed playing time.
The threat – combined with increasing salaries – is expected to make more English cricketers appear in the tournament every year and potentially further increase workloads across the calendar.
The changes, agreed by the IPL over the weekend, will mean that players cannot “pick and choose” when they play in the competition. In practice, this is likely to mean more English cricketers play in the competition every year, intensifying the demands on their schedule and creating possible disruption to the English domestic game. The new rules risk giving leading players, and the England and Wales Cricket Board, less control over schedules.
Any England player who wants to appear in the next three years of the IPL will now have to enter the auction for the 2025 competition, or be barred from the 2026 and 2027 seasons. Insiders now expect all England stars – including Ben Stokes, Joe Root and Jofra Archer – to enter the next auction. “You are likely to have all players wanting to – three years is a long time in cricket,” one leading player agent said.
In this year’s IPL, five Englishmen – Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Jason Roy and David Willey – withdrew from the tournament after originally being signed in the auction, because of a combination of personal reasons and the ECB managing player workloads. The withdrawals added to long-running concerns among IPL franchises that players from certain countries – above all England and Australia – were limiting their involvement in the tournament. Franchises believe that players have tactically avoided entering mega-auctions, in which franchises can sign players to longer-term contracts – instead entering in years when, with fewer high-quality alternatives, they are more likely to command a huge price. IPL franchises were already concerned about some leading English players, such as Stokes, only being involved in the competition for certain seasons.
Any players who are considering withdrawing from the IPL will now “think twice” because the penalties for pulling out have increased steeply, one leading player agent told Telegraph Sport. “Nobody wants players being picked up, team budgeting being planned and then being pulled out.”
The changes, another agent said, would make it harder to curb players appearing in the IPL. England have often sought to manage the workload of their players, particularly fast bowlers, in the competition. Chris Woakes has also previously withdrawn after winning a contract at the auction.
The IPL has made two significant changes, which will effectively push anyone who wants to appear in the competition to be available every year. Anyone who makes themselves unavailable for a season after being signed at an auction will be banned from the tournament for two years, unless they are considered to have a legitimate reason. Players will also be barred from registering for the annual mini-auction if they do not register at the preceding mega-auction, which occurs around every three years, with the next one in 2025.
Stokes was not available for the last mega-auction, in 2022. A year later, in the mini-auction, he was signed by Chennai Super Kings for £1.6 million. Under the changes approved, Stokes would now have had to be available in 2022, too, if he was to play in 2023. Australian pair Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, who both signed bumper IPL contracts in 2024 after years of intermittent availability, are also considered to be players who have exploited the previous recruitment rules.
Salaries for players in the IPL are also being hiked, which will further encourage more English players to commit to the tournament fully. The total salary cap, across the 10 franchises, is increasing from £9.85 million in 2024 to £13 million next year, with match fees introduced for each player.
If leading England Test players are to accept not being allowed to enter the auction, the ECB now seems likely to have to pay them more.
The IPL runs to late May each year, meaning it clashes with the first seven weeks of the English domestic season. From next year, the Pakistan Super League plans to be played in a similar window. The IPL’s rule changes are widely seen as an attempt to guard against losing any significant players to the PSL – which can still pay competitively and could promise players below the top rank greater security. The PSL will target a series of English players, with fears that dozens of Englishmen could miss the start of the domestic season while playing in India or Pakistan instead.
The IPL’s rule changes allow for some exemptions for players to withdraw after the auction, citing injury, family illness or international commitments. But, as the ECB attempts to safeguard its relationship with the Board of Control for Cricket in India, England’s governing body will be expected to communicate any desire to manage players’ workloads well in advance of the auction. This could mean, for instance, that it becomes much more difficult for players previously signed up with the IPL to be withdrawn to manage their workload ahead of a major Test series against India or Australia.
Next year, England play a one-off Test against Zimbabwe during the closing stages of the IPL. England have generally previously recalled players from the tournament to play international cricket, but it remains to be seen what policy they adopt for the Test.
2024-09-30T12:49:51Z dg43tfdfdgfd