London: Former England coach David Lloyd has said that the Indian Premier League (IPL), scheduled to start in less than a week, “disrupts the traditional international program” as some top cricketers playing in the lucrative tournament are not available for national duty.
The 75-year-old former cricketer, who was England coach between 1996 and 1999, said “alarm bells should ring” as the IPL added 14 extra players after the inclusion of two new teams – Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans. for the upcoming season, starting March 26th.
While South Africa will be without Kagiso Rabada, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen for their two-Test series against Bangladesh due to IPL engagements, New Zealand will be without 12 first-choice players for the limited-over home series against the Netherlands.
In his column for the Daily Mail, Lloyd wrote. “Alarm bells should ring. Already, South Africa’s complete attack is not available for future tests against Bangladesh; in New Zealand, 12 men have been excluded from selection against Afghanistan. Make no mistake, the IPL disrupts the traditional international program.
In November last year, former England skipper Michael Atherton wrote in the Times warning about Test cricket suffering due to the expanded IPL schedule. “The calendar can not contain the competitive demands of international and franchise cricket as it is now,” he said.
“India wants a longer window and, who knows, maybe the owners will eventually want to cut a second station off the schedule. Cricketers will chase the money if the market is not controlled, and suffer the least profitable aspects of the game – notably Test cricket among countries with small TV markets.
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