Dimitri Mascarenhas can be a big hit in the IPL

Source : Times Online

Rod Bransgrove, the Hampshire chairman, believes that the domestic Twenty20 game must be “sexed up” to match the rise of the Indian Premier League (IPL) after Dimitri Mascarenhas became the first England player to sign up for the competition yesterday.

Mascarenhas, 30, the leading performer in the 20-over internationals in New Zealand last month, became available only three hours before the deadline to go into the second IPL auction. He will join Shane Warne, his Hampshire colleague, at the Rajasthan Royals, having attracted a bid of $100,000 (about £50,000) from the Jaipur-based franchise.

Sony has paid $1billion over ten years for television rights to the IPL, but Bransgrove believes that English cricket can match the event by deregulating the Twenty20 Cup. “The IPL is a wake-up call to us,” he said. “They have recognised that crowds want to see big-name players and left us behind the eight-ball.

“This is something we might have considered two years ago given our early success with the format we invented. No one will persuade me that the interest in India will be any greater than it is over here, or would be with the same players. We just need to make our league more attractive, funkier and sexier.

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“I am not saying have unlimited numbers of overseas players, but the product needs to be reviewed. Twenty20 is not a breeding ground for England players in the same way as the championship, so why not bring in the stars, the showmen and the England players?”

Mascarenhas was finally given the permission required by his county to join the IPL as late as 2am yesterday when he agreed a mutually acceptable deal with Bransgrove. In return for his clearance, he has extended his Hampshire contract for two more seasons.

“We agreed a two-week window for 2008, then he will be 100 per cent available for the IPL in 2009 and 2010,” Bransgrove said. “He could not have entered the auction without a 'no objection' certificate from us, but we would then have had a player who was not motivated and would probably leave at the end of the season.

“To deny him the chance to play would have been an ostrich reaction to something that everybody has to acknowledge has changed the landscape of world cricket.”

Mascarenhas was approached via David Ligertwood, his agent, after interest from the Royals sparked by Warne. Lalit Modi, an architect of the competition as vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, said that he had spoken to Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, to make sure that a deal was acceptable.

The competition runs from April 18 until June 1 and Mascarenhas will miss a single championship match and three or four in the Friends Provident Trophy. Hampshire will receive compensation. Bransgrove denied that Mascarenhas will be flying between England and India through the first six weeks of the season.

James Hopes, the Australia one-day all-rounder, proved the most lucrative earner with a $300,000 bid from Mohali. That was more than twice as much as Jaipur paid for Shane Watson, his Australia team-mate, but Mascarenhas could be one of the bargain buys if he reproduces the big hitting that has decorated his England career. His status with the national side should not be affected as the ECB and ICC have given full backing to the format and the IPL is likely to benefit again after Australia yesterday pulled out of the tour of Pakistan next month on safety grounds, removing one bar to the appearances of Ricky Ponting, Brett Lee and Andrew Symonds.

Cricket Australia will decide for how long its contracted players will be allowed to feature before a tour to West Indies in mid-May. Its decision not to travel to Pakistan, on Government advice, may build momentum for the ICC Champions Trophy to be switched to South Africa or Sri Lanka in the autumn.