Stewart backs calls for IPL cut-off date

Surrey director of cricket Alec Stewart has backed calls for a cut-off date to be allocated for county players to join the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Surrey’s early season plans for the County Championship were thrown into disarray when seamer Tom Curran was called up by the Kolkata Knight Riders as an injury replacement for Australia’s Mitchell Starc.
Fellow English side Yorkshire also suffered a similar fate when Liam Plunkett and David Willey were also late additions to squads in India as injury replacements.
In an article published on ESPNCricinfo, Stewart said: “It’s far from ideal losing Tom so late. I hope in time this will be looked at.
“The IPL is not going anywhere – I fully understand players wanting to be part of it because, one, it’s a good competition and, second, it helps your bank balance.
“The problem is when you get the phone calls I got for Tom, and Martyn Moxon [Yorkshire’s director of cricket] got for Willey and Plunkett. Your planning goes out of the window.”
The IPL overlaps with the start of the English domestic season making it far from ideal for England internationals to take part in the lucrative event.
However, while Stewart says players will become better by playing in the tournament there needs to be clear lines on who actually own the players as they are under contract with their counties.
Stewart continued: “Tom will come back a better player so I don’t have a real issue with it, but the issue is who controls the players – are they our players or are they IPL players?
“They are under contract [to the counties] for 12 months, so I would argue they are ours. We should have more control than just saying ‘I guess you are going then’.”
Latest
-
News
England slump to two-day Test defeat against India in Ahmedabad
Spinner Axar Patel took five for 32 to finish with a match haul of 11 wickets.
-
News
England on course for defeat inside two days after collapse against spin
England were bowled out for 81.
-
News
Warwickshire bolster batting with signing of Pieter Malan
Paul Frabrace hopes Pieter Malan will help mentor Warwickshire’s young batsmen.
-
News
How Joe Root’s five-for-eight compares to England’s best Test bowling figures
The part-time off-spinner ripped through India’s tail in Ahmedabad.
-
News
Joe Root develops a golden arm to fire England back into third Test contention
Captain takes five Indian wickets in dramatic fashion.
-
News
Mohammad Hafeez bats away PCB contract offer
Mohammad Hafeez has shunned a Category C contract from the Pakistan Cricket Board.
-
News
India v England, day one: Zak Crawley the only bright light for poor England
India held the upper hand in the pivotal third Test in Ahmedabad after bowling the tourists out for 112 and reaching the close on 99 for three.
-
News
England frustrated with umpires after India dominate day one of third Test
England skipper Joe Root was heard telling umpires ‘all we want is consistency’.
-
News
England slump to 112 all out as India take control of third Test
Zak Crawley’s half-century was England’s only innings of note.
-
News
Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin have England in a spin in third Test
Patel claimed six for 38 to put India in complete control.