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CA worried over IPL’s influence on calendar

Melbourne: Cricket Australia has expressed concerns that the success of the DLF-Indian Premier League may have a negative influence on the international calendar in future.

James Sutherland, CEO of the CA, said the cash-rich league may ask for more weeks for conducting the Twenty20 event as it gains popularity.

“It’s a six-week window one day, does it creep into eight, 10, 12 weeks when the IPL becomes a great success?,” Sutherland was quoted as saying in The Age on Tuesday.

“The moment it starts to compromise international cricket, we have concerns and doubts about the whole thing,” he added.

Sutherland’s fears stem from the fact that the West Indies Cricket Board has allowed three of its players to play in the inaugural IPL, instead of in the Tests against Australia in May and June in the Caribbean.

West Indies captain Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, will be unavailable for the opening two Tests of the series if their IPL sides make the finals.

Donald Peters, WICB Chief Executive Officer, said that there was little chance of stopping them with so much money on offer.

“Given the amount of money involved, it certainly destabilises the infrastructure of cricket” he said.

Peters, however, was confident that the series against Australia would be a success even without big names. — PTI

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