Cricket Forum banner

IPL: Hampshire happy with Mascarenhas 'comprimise'

886 Views 0 Replies 1 Participant Last post by  Rising
Hampshire insist they have reached a happy compromise with Dimitri Mascarenhas in allowing their star all-rounder to play in the Indian Premier League.

Mascarenhas became the first England international to sign up for the lucrative Twenty20 tournament Tuesday morning when he was snapped up for #50,000 by Jaipur at the latest player auction.

The 30-year-old will not play in the whole event, which begins next month and runs until June 1, but will miss two weeks of Hampshire's domestic programme in May.

In return for allowing the IPL the services of their player, Hampshire will receive compensation and Mascarenhas has agreed to extend his contract at the Rose Bowl to the end of the 2010 season. His existing deal had been due to expire at the end of this year.

Chairman Rod Bransgrove told PA Sport: "I am delighted for Dimi and I am delighted for Hampshire.

"It will be limited to times when it is convenient for us and we have secured the services of a very influential player.

"The final negotiations took place in the early of hours of the morning and I am very pleased for Dimi. He has been a great servant to the club and I hope the members will see this as a good compromise."

Mascarenhas had not been included on the initial list for the IPL's second auction and was only added this morning after agreement had been reached.

Hampshire, who will now issue Mascarenhas the required 'no objection certificate', also involved England in their discussions and national selection could yet override his participation.

The England and Wales Cricket Board had no direct input as Mascarenhas, who featured in the recent one-day internationals in New Zealand, is not a centrally-contracted player.

The IPL was set up by the Board of Control for Cricket in India as a rival to the rebel Indian Cricket League.

It is offering big-money contracts to players for a relatively little amount of work, with Mahendra Singh Dhoni topping the bidding at the first auction last month at #750,000.

Contracts with the IPL run for three years but not all players have committed to 100% availability and the positioning of future events is yet to be finalised.

The timing of the next tournament has created a situation unprecedented in English cricket history as never before has such a lucrative alternative to playing at home during the summer existed.

The IPL had indicated no England players would be involved in the next event due to its overlapping with the domestic season and the ECB are keen to ensure they do not lose the services of those on central contracts.

Mascarenhas will join up with county skipper Shane Warne at Jaipur, the Australian having signed up to captain and coach the franchise. Warne will not play for Hampshire until his involvement in the IPL ends.

Hampshire have been particularly badly hit by the creation of the new Twenty20 tournaments in India with New Zealand paceman Shane Bond, their overseas player for 2008, having committed to the ICL.

That now makes it unlikely Bond will be able to fulfil his contract with the county as the ECB have pledged to take a hard line against the unsanctioned event.

Any player involved in the ICL could be denied county registration for a year and Bransgrove concedes Hampshire may have to look for an alternative overseas player.

He said: "The position the ECB and the county find ourselves in is we do not wish to encourage unsanctioned tournaments.

"We don't want our game to be denuded of players and it is unlikely the ECB will be prepared to register Shane Bond."

Jaipur were the biggest spenders at the IPL's second auction, also signing Australia all-rounder Shane Watson (#62,500), South Africa fast bowler Morne Morkel (#30,000) and Pakistan paceman Sohail Tanvir (#50,000).

Australians James Hopes (#150,000) and Luke Pomersbach (#25,000) were bought by Mohali along with New Zealand's Kyle Mills (#75,000).

Another Kiwi currently playing against England, Ross Taylor, joined Bangalore for #50,000.

The New Zealanders will not play the full tournament due to their tour of England early in the summer.

South Africa batsman Ashwell Prince cost Mumbai #87,500.
See less See more
1 - 1 of 1 Posts
1 - 1 of 1 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top