(Cricket news) Jos Buttler, who feels that no international cricket match should ever clash with the world’s top franchise league, has supported the ECB’s decision to pull players out of the IPL finals so they could play in England’s Twenty20I series against Pakistan.
Buttler is one of eight players from England’s tentative Twenty20 World Cup team that left the IPL before the group stage concluded last week. He is also one of four players whose franchises advanced to the knockout stages, along with Will Jacks, Reece Topley, and Phil Salt.
In advance of Wednesday’s first Twenty20 international match, England’s players reported to Leeds on Saturday night.
The decision to send players home from India was spearheaded by Buttler, according to Rob Key, managing director of England men’s cricket, who also stated last month that it would be crucial for the team to get some time together before heading to the Caribbean.
“I said, ‘Look, as an England captain, my main priority is to be playing for England,'” Buttler said on Tuesday. “It’s my personal opinion that there shouldn’t be any international cricket that clashes with the IPL. I think that these games have been in the calendar for a long time. Of course, leading into a World Cup, your No. 1 priority is playing for England and performing for England. I feel like this is the best preparation.”
A vital member of the Rajasthan Royals, Buttler’s departure has left a significant void in their lineup for Wednesday’s elimination matchup with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. In Buttler’s absence, Tom Kohler-Cadmore was selected for their remaining two group matches, but in his one and only innings, he scored 18 runs off of 23 balls.
Other national boards have adopted the ECB’s alternative stance; as a result, players from South Africa and the West Indies will not be participating in this week’s T20I series in Jamaica because of franchise obligations.
Josh Little was permitted to remain in India by Ireland during their recent series against Pakistan, who had been playing Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) in lieu of their players during the Indian Premier League.
There has been considerable unease in India with the players’ early return, although it has mostly come from the media rather than the IPL teams themselves. Key stated last month that he had attempted to keep the situation “pretty fluid” with players before determining they would return home.
Prior to December’s auction, Sanjay Bangar, the head of cricket development at Punjab Kings, asserted on Sunday that the ECB had made it clear that all the players are going to be available.
However, this was always subject to fitness and international duty and any periods of unavailability that players submitted on their auction applications.
The T20I series between England and Pakistan was added to the ICC’s Future Tours Program in August 2022, and the dates were revealed in July 2023. On the other hand, the Indian Premier League’s 2024 schedule was not made public until after the competition had begun, due to the postponement of the tournament due to the general elections in India.
Sam Curran stated on Monday that the ECB’s decision “makes great sense”. Curran has captained Punjab in eight of his thirteen matches this season. Curran stated: “It was decided that returning was probably the best course of action for all of us.
It was only just that each franchise lose a player or two. If certain teams had been allowed to retain a few players while others were not, it would have been quite unfair.
“I think Jos, Motty [Matthew Mott] and Keysy wanted us all back together for this series. It makes great sense, because obviously we want to be playing as a team and get used to our roles. It’s quite hard when you go tournament to tournament, and then straight into a big tournament like [the World Cup] where you haven’t really played together.”
The CEO of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Association (FICA), Tom Moffat, told that a recent player survey, which will be released soon, indicates widespread support for international and franchise ‘windows’, as Buttler proposed. The FICA will host a global scheduling symposium for members later this year.
“Our positions are guided by the players and in our latest global player survey completed this year, 84% support global scheduling windows so that domestic leagues and international cricket can co-exist,” Moffat said. “That’s not easy to achieve and would likely require a reduction in overall volume of international cricket and would also mean some leagues competing with other leagues.”
