English players willing to ditch country for IPL

London, Jun 24 (UNI) In what may come as alarming news for the ECB, a survey by the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA) has revealed that half the English team is willing to take premature retirement to play in the lucrative IPL.

As part of their annual poll of members, the PCA had surveyed 16 players who are involved in the current England set-up.

Eight indicated their readiness to put the mind boggling Indian Premier League (IPL) salaries before their country.

Describing the finding as ''extremely worrying'', PCA chairman Dougie Brown said the heavy workload at the international arena and vast riches on offer in the IPL are to blame.

''You can't blame the England players for thinking that way,'' Brown was quoted as saying by 'The Daily Telegraph'.

''We're all in the game for a short period of time, and those people who spend a lot of time travelling the globe must find the idea of the IPL very appealing,'' he added. ''These guys will be faced with the choice of spending 300 days away a year, or going to India for six weeks, and getting paid the same if not more money.

There will be a fair bit of pressure coming from the family.'' The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had prevented its players from featuring in the inaugural IPL with Dimitri Mascarenhas the only English representative.

But the number is expected to increase in the next edition with top stars like Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff tipped to join the league.

The news emphasises the need for a window in the international itinerary for the IPL, so the tournament does not clash with any Test or one-day series.

Survey results due to be released this week by the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA) are expected to drive home the message that this is also an international problem.

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