London, Feb 12 (Inditop.com) The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has rejected Indian Premier League (IPL) supremo Lalit Modi’s offer of making minor adjustment to this summer’s fixture so that counties can compete in the second Twenty20 Champions League.
Modi said that all options were considered before the league’s governing council scheduled the event for Sep 10-26.
But David Collier, the ECB chief executive, had informed all the counties that they won’t be permitted to participate in the Champions League during the period announced by Modi.
Modi, however, claimed that Collier had been informed about the schedule over the past two months by a member of the governing council.
Champions League will not only affect the English domestic finalists, but also others who have players linked to teams from around the world. These players may seek release at the most critical part of the campaign to play in the Champions League.
“We will be very reluctant to change our schedules drawn up several months in advance. We have not got the scope for bringing the season forward because the championship starts on April 9 and the MCC game against Durham, the champions, is even in March. From our perspective it is going to be tough to do anything. There is no room for manoeuvre,” an ECB spokesman was quoted as saying by The Times, London.
The ECB said that is is impossible to reschedule two rounds of LV County Championship matches, the semi-finals and final of the new 40-over league and England’s one-day series with Pakistan.
ECB chairman Giles Clarke, during a meeting in Dubai, appealed to his counterparts from India, Australia and South Africa to put back the Champions League.