Five Kiwi players get IPL clearance

Auckland, Mar 27 (UNI) Five Kiwi players will skip the early stages of the tour of England to take part in the cash rich IPL after getting their clearance from New Zealand Cricket (NZC).

Captain Daniel Vettori, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum, Kyle Mills and Ross Taylor will arrive in England a week after the start of the tour.

The players have been told to report for duty by May 1, two weeks before the start of the first Test at Lord's. They will, however, not play the warm-up games against the MCC and Kent.

''We have reached a decision which I believe is fair and is also consistent with the best cricketing outcome,'' NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan said today.

''The May 1 deadline date will give the players time to acclimatise to playing in English conditions as they will be available for two first-class matches, prior to the Test series beginning,'' he said adding,''the IPL has the ability to retain players in the international game and has our full support.'' UNI XC CS AB RS1705