Australia seek IPL resolution

Australia are keen to have proper assurances from the IPL

Cricket Australia believe they are “very close” to reaching an agreement with the Indian Premier League which will allow their retired stars to take part in the new competition.

The governing body's spokesman, Peter Young, is confident the issue could be resolved prior to the start of the IPL in April.

"It's capable of being resolved in time to see IPL fly with Australian players on board," Young said.

Cricket Australia wants to ensure that any players who sign with the IPL do not breach the terms of their contract with the game's governing body in Australia.

At the heart of the issue are commercial concerns and questions regarding access to players.

Cricket Australia are determined to ensure that their commercial interests are not jeopardised by any contracted player signing with the IPL.

They also want assurances from the fledgling competition that it will not lose out in the event of a clash between international/interstate and IPL commitments.

Such a dilemma could arise should any Australian player playing with an IPL franchise win through to the Champions Twenty20 concept where they could be pitted against their home state.

Ricky Ponting wants the ICC to make space for the IPL in its programme © Getty Images

"There are a lot of issues which broadly fall into two areas," Young said.

"Who has access to the players where a player has a state cricket obligation and an IPL obligation?

"And then the other area is the broad commercial areas to do with use of players in sponsorship promotion in India and elsewhere on behalf of yet to be identified IPL sponsors.

"We have been working our way through a mountain of detail with the IPL people in recent weeks to try and ensure that when Australian players go over there, there are no breaches of the Australian contractual obligation."

Cricket Australia issued a statement on Thursday giving its support to the IPL and effectively giving its thumbs down to any player wanting to play in the non-ICC sanctioned Indian Cricket League.

It has told national and state selectors to “treat players who take part only in ICC-approved matches more favourably than those who do not”.

And players who take part in non-sanctioned events while contracted would “not be offered player contracts or be permitted to continue to be a party to player contracts”.

Skipper Ricky Ponting called for there to be time left free in the ICC's Future Tour Programme to allow for international players to take part in the IPL.

"Otherwise there will be guys making the decision of whether to continue playing both forms of the game for their country or have a bigger break every year and play 44 days of Twenty20 cricket and probably make more money than what they would have internationally," Ponting said.

"The danger for me is the IPL. Unless some time is given up for that competition every year then you might start losing the 33-, 34-year-old players from international cricket."