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Pietersen: England players must be allowed to join IPL

05/04/2008

England batsman Kevin Pietersen says he and the other centrally-contracted players should be allowed to join the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) currently does not allow England players to join the lucrative league despite international players from the rest of the world playing in the six-week limited overs tournament.

Pietersen says he and the rest of the England team are being treated unfairly and that the ECB should not stand in the way of players increasing their earning potential.

Now that the IPL has been officially recognised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) Pietersen says the ECB must find a way to fit the tournament into their schedule in the future.

He told the Times: "It's not something we can control, but it's definitely something that the hierarchy needs to fix into our fixtures.

"You want your best players playing both for their country and for the IPL. You don't want them choosing between the two. It's silly to think that you're losing up to a million [dollars] over six weeks."

Pietersen says he remains committed to the England cause but wants to compete against his contemporaries in India.

The Hampshire player says the future of the game lies in Twenty20 matches and that the ECB must be more flexible.

He said: "I won't jeopardise my England career for the IPL just yet, but the schedules have to be sorted because the England players are the only ones missing out. There are guys in our team who could be earning a lot of money."

So far the only England player to join the IPL is Hampshire all-rounder Dimitri Mascheranas who is able to do so as he is not currently centrally-contracted.