Giles Clarke, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), said Monday he couldn't see how the likes of leading England cricketers such as Kevin Pietersen would be allowed to play in the 2009 Indian Premier League (IPL) and so risk injury ahead of the next Ashes series. “For a centrally-contracted player, I can't see Peter Moores (England's coach) wishing to release them,” Clarke told reporters at Lord's here Monday. “The risks are very significant - we will be about to play Australia. “Just what would you gentlemen (the media) write if Peter Moores released an England player to play in the IPL and couldn't play all summer?” The inaugural IPL, a domestic Twenty20 competition featuring players from around the world, gets underway in India on April 18 and so clashes with the start of both England's domestic and home international seasons. Star batsman Pietersen told the Times last week: “You want your best players playing both for their country and for the IPL. “You don't want them choosing between the two. It's silly to think that you're losing up to a million (US dollars) over six weeks. The schedules have to be sorted because the England players are the only ones missing out.” At present the only England player involved in the IPL is all-rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas. England is touring the West Indies in February, earlier than it would normally visit the Caribbean. The reason is to give its key players, most of whom are centrally contracted to the ECB, more of a break before the Australia series gets underway in June. And Clarke wants England, thrashed 5-0 in Australia by its oldest foes in the 2006-07 Ashes, to do all it can to triumph in the series that matters most to its fans. Asked what might happen if someone like Pietersen opted out of a central contract so as to increase his availability to the IPL, Clarke said: “KP runs the risk, as anybody does of losing his place and getting injured. “Cricket careers can come to ends as well as begin.” Clarke also reiterated his hostility to the rebel Indian Cricket League. Several ICL players who've agreed deals with counties this season are currently barred from playing in England as part of the worldwide show of solidarity with the BCCI by other national boards. __
