Thursday, February 2, 2012

IPL not a distraction for England, says Strauss

England captain Andrew Strauss disagreed with the lucrative Indian league was a distraction to all that his team facing a 3-0 defeat against Pakistan in the third and final Test starting here from Wednesday.

Pakistan won the first two tests, the first here in the second and wickets for 72 runs in Abu Dhabi, to gain an unassailable 2-0 lead. And with Saturday's auction in the Indian Premier League (IPL) approaching, Strauss was asked if this would be a distraction for his players. "I certainly hope not. I think we had this condition before," said the England captain.

Names of several current cast members will appear in the auction to be held in Bangalore, with James Anderson, Ian Bell, Graeme Swann, Ravi Boparai, Matt Prior and Chris Tremlett favorite appears to be included.

See also: Line Stars in IPL auction

Stuart Broad, Eoin Morgan and Kevin Pietersen already have IPL contracts.

Strauss, who insisted that he does not want to participate in the Twenty20 Cup, remained in the background as his team faced a lime - the first in England and Pakistan test history. "Certainly I remember Test matches in the past when this has been appearing in the background - and is much in the background.

"I would be very, very surprised if any of our players had been anywhere else than his attention on the game at the time -. Especially after what happened over the last two Test matches is therefore not a major problem for us. "

"I think we have become very comfortable with the fact it is the ICC (International Cricket Council) have given our players to play in IPL window and that window is determined that the guys have to have enough time, when they return home to prepare for our next series. So, we all know where we are with it. Certainly I will not hold it against players who want to go there and play. Most of the best players from around the world are doing it. "

"I with my team as a test to make sure they get enough time to prepare for the series against West Indies that is coming. We are comfortable with that, we have to wait and see who is caught and how long it stays there. "

The annual cricket tournament IPL revolutionized when it burst onto the scene in 2008 with lucrative contracts for international players, matches short and glamor of Bollywood. But the IPL has been accused of showing poor of India in the recent five-day format, as they lost eight in a row away Tests - four each in England and Australia - last year.

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