Its IPL or country for English players

London, Nov 22 (UNI) English players hoping for an invite to next season's Indian Premier League (IPL) will have to relinquish their central contracts if they want to play a full part in the cash rich event.

Managing director of the England team, Hugh Morris, has revealed that the England and Wales Cricket Board's (ECB) Test and one-day programme would not be altered to accommodate players wanting to spend more than two weeks at the IPL.

''We will be playing Test matches in the early part of May and clearly that will have an impact on the amount of time that players may or may not go to IPL,'' Morris was qouted as saying by 'Daily Telegraph'.

''My understanding is that the International Cricket Council (ICC), IPL and the ECB have made it very clear from the word go that international cricket takes precedence over domestic tournaments and I think that will be the case. That's the very clear message we get from the ICC. I understand that is what the IPL think as well.'' To play in the IPL, players need No Objection Certificates from their respective boards. Mindful of the hectic international itinerary, ECB had said they would leave the decision over them to coach Peter Moores.

But with the Board keen to get India's elite players over for their own Twenty20 League in 2010, deciding which of England's players can and cannot go has been passed to executive level, with Morris, David Collier and Giles Clarke all able to overrule Moore's recommendations.

''Peter makes a recommendation to me and that goes to the board,'' said Morris.

''Ultimately any decision can be over-ruled by the board - that is just the corporate organisation. But we are having to monitor workloads closely on a regular basis with all the cricket going on,'' he added.

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