Former England captain Michael Vaughan isn’t really happy with the statement issued by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Director of Cricket Ashley Giles over England players’ participation in India’s domestic T20 competition – Indian Premier League (IPL).
Recently, Giles had stated that ECB will not force the England players to choose between IPL and national duty or skip the cash-rich tournament to avoid confrontation between the board and players, as they might lose a lot of players if they don’t allow them to play in the IPL.
Reacting to the comments made by Giles, Vaughan said ECB are being paranoid if they think their players will turn down a central contract to play in the IPL while suggesting the board recognize its “power” and say “goodbye” to players who choose franchise cricket over their national team.
Vaughan wrote in his column for The Telegraph, “England are being paranoid if they think their players will turn down a central contract to play in the IPL. Ashley Giles told my show on the BBC this week that England does not want to go 'toe-to-toe' with players over the IPL because in the long run 'we may face losing some of our best players.”
As many as close to 14 England players are participating in the IPL 2021 which includes the likes of Eoin Morgan, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, and Sam Curran.
The former captain continued, “I think that is a wrong message to be sending. If an England player came to me aged 26 or 27 and said he was choosing the IPL and franchise cricket over an England deal my response would be simple, 'Go on then, see you later, goodbye, but I tell you what, I bet you come knocking back on my door in a year or two's time.”
Earlier, Geoffrey Boycott asked the ECB to dock players' fee if they priorities the IPL over playing for their own country, however, Vaughan has a different solution for the same.
He signed off by saying, “If England really wants to make sure it does not happen then why not offer their best players two or three-year central contracts? High-level sport is about looking after the best individuals so give Ben Stokes or Jofra Archer more than a one-year contract. That way you are tying them down. Instead, they have 12-month deals.”
