England not changing its test series to accommodate IPL, confirms Mark Butcher

Much to the disappointment of Indians, Indian Premier League was postponed owing to the coronavirus pandemic earlier this month but the Board of cricket council of India was looking for an opportunity to conduct the remaining matches in between of the international tournaments but even that seems impossible given the current circumstance. 

The England and Wales Cricket Board has reportedly confirmed that they will not be shifting test series scheduled to be held in England to a later date to fit in the remaining IPL matches. However, former English cricketer Mark Butcher feels that the board should have allowed BCCI to conduct IPL matches by shifting test series to a later date. 

Butcher said that it would have benefited the ‘Hundred’ tournament if the ECB would have agreed to the request of the BCCI. The Indian cricketing board had informally requested ECB to shift the five match test series between India and England so that it acts as a leverage for the Indian players to play in England. 

In one of his interviews through a podcast, the former opener said, “Well, listen. I take a deep breath here … as does the nation. I think it’s a massive missed opportunity.” He added that if ECB would have accepted the offer, the likes of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni could have joined the English flagship project. 

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He further explained that the ECB is desperate to make Hundred work because they have bet the whole thing on the experiment. He hinted that it is possible that somebody on top does not want this to be a success.

The 48-year-old explained that the ECB could use the situation to its advantage by asking for top players from India to come in exchange for the ECB shifting the date. We would do this for the BCCI on the proviso that we get Kohli, Dhoni, whoever we like, signed up for three years to play in The Hundred, starting 2022,” said the English batsman. 

‘The Hundred’ is a cricketing tournament organised by England involving eight teams–both men and women–scheduled for 2020 but had to be postponed due to the pandemic.