Haroon Lorgat, the new chief executive of the International Cricket Council, issued a dire warning yesterday that the future of international cricket is at risk, as Sri Lanka Cricket surrendered to its players' pressure to renege on their tour of England next season so that they can take part in the lucrative Indian Premier League.
As the financial clout of the IPL claimed England as its first victim, Lorgat warned: "If we don't manage this situation we could be threatening the lifeblood of all member countries. International cricket generates revenue that is essential to our survival."
The England and Wales Cricket Board is aghast at suggestions that Sri Lanka wants to curtail an itinerary agreed only a week ago at the ICC annual meeting in Dubai, but it will receive an embarrassed phone call today from Duleep Mendis, chief executive of Sri Lanka Cricket, insisting that the tour cannot now go ahead in its current form.
There is not much room for compromise. The two Tests and three ODIs run between May 7 and 30 and the IPL does not finish until May 25. Sri Lanka will offer to send a fringe squad to play the Tests, but that will just goad England's leading players into demanding the freedom to miss what would become a devalued Test series in favour of fulfilling longer IPL contracts.
Sri Lanka's players won their case after the personal intervention of the country's president, Mahinda Rajapakse, who held a tea party in their honour after their Asia Cup success and was told that during a long-running pay dispute they had been given verbal guarantees that there would be no fixture clash with the IPL.
Mendis accepted as much last night. "We will take up the matter with the ECB to find out what alternatives we can arrive at without upsetting both parties," he said. "The players were already committed to playing in the IPL and they have also assured us that they will give the 2011 tour of England top priority ahead of the IPL.
"We couldn't let them down. Therefore it was agreed that the players be allowed to play in the IPL next year."
While the ECB was insisting that it had a done deal until Mendis told it otherwise, Lorgat was outspoken in the defence of Test cricket. It will prove to be his biggest challenge...
