Date:05/12/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/12/05/stories/2007120554982000.htm

Sport - Cricket

Gilchrist’s fears about IPL

Melbourne: Cribbing about burnout and then making a beeline to play in the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) would portray cricketers as hypocrites, fears Australia vice- captain Adam Gilchrist.

Gilchrist said though cricketers had always played county cricket to earn extra money in the off-season, complaining about burnout and then making a dash for cash in the Twenty20 might project them in a bad light.

“I do see that, I think that’s definitely something Cricket Australia will feel, and that’s something we as a playing group have to consider,” Gilchrist was quoted as saying by The Age.

“(But) it has been going on for years and years. Players have been going to England in off-seasons and taking opportunities to play and learn the game and earn some good money over in England. But I do understand critics might say that we are trying to get less (cricket), but when something else comes up we want more,” he said.

Neil Maxwell, IPL’s Australian agent, however, argues that IPL’s shorter format would reduce the workload. “Players who have looked to make money in the past have tended to go to England, where they can be playing county cricket for as many as five months,” said Maxwell “This is an alternative to that,” he said. — PTI