MUMBAI: Ashley Giles, managing director of the England men’s team, has addressed the matter of the “back channel” talks the BCCI has had with the England and Wales Cricket Board on making available their contracted players for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. And it remains “no deal”.
Giles has said that the ECB is NOT planning to change its international schedule to accommodate the remainder of the suspended 14th edition of the IPL, which is expected to be played in the UAE from September 15.
The BCCI is looking at a 25-day window that will run from September 15 through to October 15. BCCI sources have told ANI that the Indian cricket board is looking to host the 31 games in 25 days.
Meanwhile Giles, while admitting that a few players might be rested during that phase, has asserted that the “intention of giving guys a break wouldn’t be for them to go and play cricket elsewhere (read IPL).”
“We are going to have to give some of these guys a break at some point. But the intention of giving guys a break for, say, Bangladesh, wouldn’t be for them to go and play cricket elsewhere,” Giles told ESPNcricinfo.
“We have to manage our schedule now, so we get our guys arriving in the best shape possible for the T20 World Cup and the Ashes,” he added.
Giles also confirmed that England had no plans to tweak the schedule of the the five-match Test series against India, which starts in August.
Giles told the cricket website: “I’m not aware of anything official, any requests to shift anything.
“As far as we’re concerned and what we’re prepared for, the matches will be where they are. I’m not surprised there’s all sorts of speculation. Everyone wants to get their cricket in. But we’ve not received anything official and we’re cracking on.
“We have a full schedule. If we go from the end of the fifth Test in September, we are set to leave for Bangladesh on September 19 or 20. We have a full schedule right through including Pakistan and wherever the T20 World Cup is.”
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