ECB Can't Advance Test Series Against India Due To Logistical Headache, The Hundred

Cricket Image for ECB Can't Advance Test Series Against India Due To Logistical Headache, The Hundre (Image Source: AFP)

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) may not entertain any possible request from the Indian cricket board to advance the five-match Test series between Indian and England to ensure that The Hundred does not lose any more sheen, it has been learnt.

The Hundred begins on July 21 while the Test series starts on August 4. The ECB, in its desperation to save the 100-ball tournament, wants all England stars to be available for the tournament which is already set to miss foreign stars from Australia, Pakistan and the West Indies as they will be busy with international commitments.

While ECB told IANS on Friday that it has not received a request from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to advance the Test series, there has been speculation that it may want the series to finish earlier than September 14 so as to get 20-22 days to finish the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL). The tournament, which was postponed halfway through its group stage due to Covid-19 in May, could be held in UAE.

According to sources, the Board has made an unofficial enquiry, a claim backed by a report in The Times newspaper.

However, ECB has been caught in a catch-22 situation. While it doesn't want to spoil its relationship with the BCCI, it wants home Test stars like Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, and Sam Curran among others to be available for The Hundred, a tournament that is being floated as a money-spinner.

"The request (by BCCI to advance series) puts ECB in a tricky position, stuck between the rock of wanting to maintain good relations with the most powerful cricket nation as well as being as flexible and helpful as possible given the postponement of the game's most financially lucrative competition, and the hard place of not impacting on their own carefully planned domestic schedule. At this late stage, it is hard to see the ECB acceding to any potential change and it is expected to hold its ground," former England captain Michael Atherton on Thursday wrote in The Times.

"Principally, any move would affect the small window in the international calendar the ECB has created for The Hundred, the new short-form competition staged mid-summer between the end of the one-day series against Pakistan and the start of the India Tests. It is hoped that England players will be available for the start of a competition long in gestation, which is expected to be further knocked by withdrawals from other overseas players in the coming weeks," Atherton further wrote.

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