Allen Stanford's proposal to put up $20 million for a winner-takes-all Twenty20 match is a very magnanimous gesture. But if anyone thinks it is going to solve all the problems surrounding the best England players and the Indian Premier League, they've got their head stuck in the sand.
What Stanford is talking about is a one-off match, between England and a West Indian all-star side। For the players, the money is great if you win, not so great if you don't. I wouldn't want to be in the losing dressing room after the match: those guys will be as sick as pigs.
Clean sweep: Kevin Pietersen's earning power could compare to a Premier League footballer's It is a brilliant publicity stunt, if you can afford it - and it looks as if Stanford can। But the real question is, will he keep investing such gigantic sums of money if he's not making a return? I know there is talk of a repeat fixture in England in 2010 but for now that's all it is: talk.
There is a big distinction between Stanford's grand gesture and the IPL, who have sold broadcasting rights to Sony for the next 10 years। Players such as Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar have signed three-year deals worth a little over £500,000 each year: £1.5 million, guaranteed. And if you take to someone like Kevin Pietersen, who is just 28, he could probably swing a six-year contract. He would be looking at a fantastic regular income, even by the standards of a Premier League footballer.
I am not surprised that the players and the England and Wales Cricket Board find themselves at odds over this issue। We are talking about a total reinvention of the way the sport is run. And the storm has blown up so quickly that everyone has been caught off guard.
Apart from the Indians, Australians and Englishmen, the rest of the world's cricketers earn very ordinary money। Which is how we have ended up with New Zealand's best players missing the first few weeks of their tour of England. The salaries being offered, even for half a season of IPL, represent riches almost beyond their comprehension.
Most of the top England players are miffed that they haven't had a slice of the cake - and that won't change no matter what happens in the West Indies. I don't believe they will insist on playing the whole IPL tournament, but they would like at least two or three weeks.
It's going to be a problem when the central contracts are offered in October। Agents and players won't want to commit, because it will mean that they have to get the board's permission to play in the IPL. They will point at the dates: England's tour of the West Indies is due to end on April 3, while next year's IPL is from April 10-May 29.
England's only commitment over that period is a two-Test series at home against one of the world's worst teams। Zimbabwe are on the calendar at the moment, but seeing as they have withdrawn from Test cricket for an indefinite period, it is more likely to be Bangladesh. Can you see the likes of Pietersen or Andrew Flintoff happily giving up half-a-million quid in order to beat the hell out of the Bangladeshis?
The ECB have been saying that there is no way the England players can appear in the IPL, either this year or the next। But I believe they will have to compromise. There is no point playing hardball just for the sake of it: all you will end up with is a lot of resentful players, just when you need them in the right frame of mind to win the Ashes.
The ECB should scrap the two-Test series now। I know it's in the broadcasting contracts, but games against minnows never bring in the viewers. The players should be offered reduced contracts, to take account of the time they will have off in April.
The board would have to pay compensation to the TV and radio rights-holders, which might cause an outcry from the counties। But it's in the game's best interests.
Pietersen on the IPL Next, the players should be given leave to appear for three weeks in the IPL, as long as they return to England afterwards for a rest। Then they should play three County Championship games to get themselves fit and focused for the first Ashes Test, which starts on July 8. It's a similar solution to the one Australia came up with this year. They scrapped their tour of Pakistan on safety and security grounds, and gave the players a fortnight's window to appear in the IPL before reporting back for training camps ahead of their visit to the Caribbean. I'm not talking about a long-term answer, just a quick fix while we weigh up what it all means and where it's all going.
And if the players don't like the idea of missing half the IPL, the ECB have one big ace in the pack. They can come back and say: "You don't have to have a central contract at all. And we don't have to pick you." Once these lads stop getting international exposure, all their endorsement deals are worthless, no matter how many Indians are watching them in the IPL.
Common sense and compromise: that is what this affair is calling for. It's time to gather everyone around a table - ECB, players, broadcasters and sponsors - and come up with a workable solution before the situation gets out of hand.
