ENG vs IND, Old Trafford Test: Indian Players Refused To Play

After several conference calls and feverish attempts to find a solution, the fifth and final Test of the India-England series as part of the ICC World Test Championship was, according to two participa

The schedule for domestic and international fixtures in an English cricket season is decided nearly a year in advance and cannot generally be tweaked ad hoc. The decision not to go ahead with the Test was officially taken just two hours before the start of play.

Given the loss the ECB (from TV rights and other revenues) and the Lancashire County Cricket Club (LCCC), hosts of the Test, will suffer as a consequence of the abrupt calling off of the match, the BCCI offered to "compensate" by either playing a Test or two limited-over games in the 2022 English season. Details of this will be announced after exploring the possibility of fitting in such a contest or contests.

LCCC alone is likely to take a hit of 1 million pounds (Rs 10 crore). Those who had bought tickets - and the match like the previous Tests was a sell-out - have been promised a full refund. The hotels at the Old Trafford, which were booked at a premium price for the duration of the game, will also have to return the money to their guests.

Meanwhile, BBC cricket correspondent and former cricketer Jonathan Agnew has reported that India refused to play so as to protect the unfinished Indian Premier League (IPL), which is scheduled to resume in the UAE from September 19. The league is worth crores of rupees to some of the Indian players and thousands of crores of rupees to the BCCI.

The sources who were party to the conference calls, though, denied this.