Sri Lanka Cricket / Frank Gregan / 25 July 2008 /

The clash between next year's Sri Lankan tour of England and the IPL season highlights the need for somebody to take responsibility for the game, writes Frank Gregan.

When the England and Wales cricket board severed bilateral ties with Zimbabwe Cricket at the end of June they were left without opponents for early summer of 2009. Sri Lanka agreed to fill the void and play two tests and three one day internationals during May next year.

The tour is set to clash with the Indian Premier League which is causing a headache for both boards. Thirteen of Sri Lanka's best players will be required to play in the IPL fulfilling their contractual obligations. It is the second year of a three year contract which they are all bound by. Sri Lanka Cricket has stated that they will not stop their players from playing in the mega bucks Twenty20 event. The consensus was that this was a wise decision which avoided a feud between board and players after critics predicted a clash between two very different forms of the game, with the corporate backed short version being far more lucrative than test cricket .

The Sri Lankan cricketers are blameless, they are professional sportsmen who have been given an opportunity to earn much more money in India than they would receive from their cricket board for touring England. Similarly, the ECB needed to arrange at short notice opponents for the country's national summer sport although it could be argued that they perhaps should have investigated what kind of team Sri Lanka would be able to send. The IPL is not at fault, they have embraced a product that is revolutionising the sport and introducing a new generation to the game. So who is going to take responsibility?

The sport needs direction, leadership and vision. The ICC must establish windows when internationals are not scheduled and events such as the IPL can take place. Sri Lanka touring England missing their best thirteen players is ridiculous, telling the thirteen players in question that they cannot take part in the IPL by order of their cricket board is also unacceptable.

The ICC should determine a criterion by which new competitions are established and sanctioned. The IPL has proved to be tremendously popular and it is guaranteed that others will attempt to follow its lead. New competitions should be encouraged but should run concurrent with other Twenty20 events, not test cricket. Two global Twenty20 windows may well be the solution with market forces determining which competition attracts the best players.

The English players will not be best pleased next May lining up against what is in essence a Sri Lankan A team particularly as they themselves will be missing out on the IPL rupees. There is a possibility that they will be able to take part in the early games when their tour of the Caribbean ends in April and that may be enough to placate the potential big earners.

One thing is for sure, some leadership and direction is desperately needed. The International Cricket Council's Ten-Year Future Tours Programme has to take action to ensure that test cricket is not played by second class teams. Twenty20 is great entertainment but test cricket is the arena in which the world's finest should be on show.

Last week, Indian skipper Anil Kumble felt driven to defend test cricket:

"Test cricket is here to stay and players really feel privileged to be a part of Test cricket," he said.

That sentiment will evaporate if players are forced to choose between money and prestige - there has to be a place in the game for both. Meanwhile, English supporters are left with some very mediocre opponents to look forward to next year.

Those of you who followed my recommendation to back South Africa to win the current series at [2.24] might like to lay now. I can't see England getting back into the series but a lay at [1.36] will free up some funds to back South Africa in the series score market to win 3-0 at [6.0].

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