Jos Buttler has urged schedulers to ensure international cricket should never clash with the Indian Premier League as franchise owners fume over not having England players for the knockout stages.
Eight of England’s 15-man squad for next month’s T20 World Cup, including Buttler, returned home from the IPL last weekend to prepare for their defence of the global showpiece.
They have a four-match T20 series against Pakistan, but the first match was washed out at Headingley on Wednesday 30 minutes before the toss because of torrential rain all day.
The England players’ withdrawal is understood to have infuriated the Board of Control for Cricket in India and IPL owners who, rightly or wrongly, believed they would have their English players until the end of the tournament.
Eoin Morgan, the former England captain, said that he felt it would have been beneficial for them to stay at the tournament. Will Jacks and Reece Topley (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Phil Salt (Kolkata Knight Riders) and Buttler (Rajasthan Royals) have all missed knockout games in the 100,000-seater stadium in Ahmedabad to return home.
Buttler, whose wife is expecting their third child imminently, said he was always planning to return home, but that the England management had decided to bring the rest back. The decision was made when the provisional squad – which has to be finalised by Saturday, and appears highly unlikely to see any changes – was named earlier this month.
“It’s really frustrating, we’ve had a good couple of days’ prep,” Buttler told Sky following the washout in Leeds. “Putting the England kit back on and playing cricket in England is amazing. It’s really disappointing not to be playing but there are three matches to look forward to.
“It’s a unique build-up [for a World Cup]. That’s why we felt it was good to get the players all together in this series here. My personal opinion is there should never be international cricket that clashes with the IPL.
“But my first priority is being England captain and trying to prepare for a world tournament so I said to Keysy [Rob Key] I would definitely be coming back and he’s made the call on the rest of the players.”
It has become unusual for England matches, especially white-ball, to clash with the IPL but fixture congestion caused by the World Cup in the Caribbean and United States made it almost inevitable this year.
In 2021, England allowed players to miss a two-Test series against New Zealand to play in the IPL but on this occasion decided they had little choice but to bring them home in order to prepare for the Caribbean following their debacle of a 50-over World Cup defence in India last year.
Jofra Archer’s long-awaited return to international cricket is now likely to take place at Edgbaston on Saturday. The teams will then move on to Cardiff and The Oval before flying to the Caribbean for the T20 World Cup, and some more agreeable weather.
First T20 abandoned: As it happened…
05:33 PM BST
Match abandoned
Even though there’s still an hour until the scheduled start, the umpires have accepted the inevitable. That’s one of the earliest call-offs I can remember, though it makes sense to let everyone know as early as possible. There was precisely 0.00000000000000000001 per cent chance of the weather improving sufficiently for even a five-over thrash.
The teams will reconvene at Edgbaston on Saturday, when happily the forecast is a bit better. That’s also the day when the teams have to rubber-stamp their World Cup squads, so England will want to see Jofra Archer in action.
05:28 PM BST
Anyone for a bit of Five5?
There are a few hardy souls in the ground. But the rain is very consistent, so they won’t be seeing any cricket. (Although apparently we can get a five-over thrash in from 9.30!)
05:13 PM BST
No brolly for Jonny
05:05 PM BST
Some people are on the pitch…
The umpires – brollies and all – are having a look. They could make a very early call to abandon the game. Apparently there’s so much water on the ground that it would take three hours from it stopping to clear up.
05:01 PM BST
Bleak and bleaker
Greetings from LE6, where the scene is bleak. Some sort of clean up is underway, but it’s pretty pointless, because it’s still raining. It could be that we get a very early call off. Never say never but, yeah…
04:44 PM BST
Nick Hoult on England’s explosive top order
Three of England’s top four scored hundreds in the Indian Premier League and the one who did not, Phil Salt, batted at a blistering strike rate of 182, hitting a six every nine balls. Harry Brook, who pulled out of the IPL, is one of the game’s strongest boundary hitters and desperate to get back into the international mix.
Read more…
04:36 PM BST
Good evening
Hello and welcome to Telegraph Sport’s live, shower-by-shower coverage of the first T20 international at Headingley. It’s been pelting down all day in Leeds, and there’s almost no chance of England and Pakistan getting on the field. Wait, come back! Almost no chance means there’s still a chance – we’ve all seen the Dumb and Dumber meme, right – and we’ll be keeping an eye just in case.
There’s one big reason we don’t want to miss any action, however unlikely the prospect: Jofra Archer is due to play his first home international since – how sad is this – September 2020. A fit Archer would take a strong England team to another level, but there has been too much agony, too many false dawns, to assume it will all be okay. This four-match series against Pakistan should give us an idea whether his elbow can cope with the intensity of international cricket.
“It’s incredibly exciting,” said Sam Curran yesterday. “I’m sure England fans and players are extremely buzzed to have him back. He’s an addition no side can turn down. He’s obviously got that extra pace and fear factor we can bring to the opposition as well. He has obviously had a tough couple of years with his body and we all hope that is behind him now and he can get back into an England shirt and start firing. He is such a good performer to have in your team.”
If tonight’s match is rained off – spoiler alert – the series will begin at Edgbaston on Saturday, when the weather forecast is a bit more conducive to a game of cricket.
The toss is scheduled for 6pm, though that is less than likely.
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