Sydney, Jul 2 (UNI) The Indian Premier League (IPL) could be granted a separate slot in the international cricket calendar after being included in the final draft of a radical proposal which will be presented before the ICC over the next two days.
The proposal, if approved by the International Cricket Council (ICC), will come into effect once the current future tours program, which runs on a six-year cycle, end in 2012.
If given the go ahead, it would assuage the demand of leading players and player associations who have been clamouring for a separate window for the IPL for fear that emerging cricketers will abandon playing for their country and instead take the big money on offer in the cash-rich Twenty20 league.
''The players and FICA feel very strongly that to preserve a healthy balance between club or franchise cricket (such as IPL) and international cricket, that the ICC needs to create a window in its international programming, or risk losing players permanently from the international cricket scene,'' FICA chief executive Tim May said recently. ''Without such a window, international cricket will be weakened.
''That is a situation that we obviously want to avoid.'' UNI XC AB BST1118