Two week stint for Australian players at IPL

Two week stint for Australian players at IPL

Decks might have been cleared for Australian stars’ appearance in the Indian Premier League but the cricketers will be able to feature only in the initial part of the Twenty20 tournament in view of their tour of the West Indies.

The Australians will be required to leave the April 18-June 1 competition during its halfway stage to return home for a national camp ahead of their series against the West Indies, beginning in the second week of May.

Cricket Australia (CA), though, has not made public its intentions and maintained that it was in the process of weighing options, which include the possibility of practice matches before the West Indies tour.

Chief coach Nielsen has not decided when the players will assemble for the camp but said the competitive environment amongst some of the world’s finest players in the IPL could be “the best preparation” instead of being harmful to the players.

“As long as it (IPL) fits in and Cricket Australia is comfortable with it, I don’t have any problem. It is nice that they can play some competitive cricket,” Nielsen said.

“I always encourage guys to be playing county cricket when it fits in because it is nice to be playing competitive, organised cricket. It (IPL) is probably the best preparation they can get to put their bodies through those sorts of workloads,” he said.

The Australian Cricketer Association said CA has also indicated that it will not object to Ponting, Brett Lee, Andrew Symonds, Matthew Hayden and Michael Hussey playing in the first 14-16 days of IPL which starts on April 18, before they embark on the West Indies tour.

“I don’t think there will be a problem,” said ACA chief executive Paul Marsh.

“Based on our discussions with Cricket Australia I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t be able to play in the IPL, assuming that there are no other commitments to Cricket Australia,” he said.

Source: Sify