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Cricket Players'No more kowtowing to IPL': Former England captain tells ECB to prioritise team's 'best interests' after Ashes debacle
The former England captain insisted that the ECB should be keeping England's ‘best interests’ as its top priority.
Former England captain Mike Atherton has urged for a series of changes in the English cricket setup, following the side's meek surrender to arch-rivals Australia in the Ashes series. Joe Root's England faced devastating defeats in the first three Tests, and there have been calls for his removal from captaincy. While Atherton suggested Ben Stokes as his successor for the role, he also called for changes in administrative decisions in the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
The former England captain insisted that the ECB should be keeping England's ‘best interests’ as its top priority, referring to their policy of granting no-objection certificates for the Indian Premier League. Over years, a number of first-choice English players have been participating in the cash-rich league organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
“The leading multi-format players are paid seven-figure sums, but, incredibly, the ECB washes its hands of them for two months of the year during the Indian Premier League. The players should be told that, while the ECB will be accommodating of the request to play in the IPL, a 12-month contract is exactly that, and the granting of a no-objection certificate to play in the IPL and other franchised competitions is contingent on it being in the best interests of the England team,” Atherton wrote on his column in The Times, which is titled “The Ashes: Ben Stokes as captain, Andrew Strauss in charge, no more kowtowing to IPL – my plan to reboot Test team.”
Atherton further urged that players “should not miss international duty” to take part in the IPL.
“Players should not miss international duty to play in the IPL, nor be rested and rotated to allow them to play elsewhere. The carry-on during the winter, and at the start of the English summer, should not happen again,” said Atherton.
Earlier in the second phase of the 2021 Indian Premier League, three England players – Chris Woakes, Dawid Malan, and Jonny Bairstow had withdrawn from the season to prioritise England duty ahead of the T20 World Cup.
