“We’re waiting for the deadlines, but the perfect situation is to be available and around for all that cricket.”
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has admitted that losing the Test matches against England in early June as a result of finishing the IPL is not his preferred option but that it is another matter of the situation. extremely rarely plays out in the normal setting.
It has not yet been confirmed whether there will be a direct issue between the IPL’s knockout rate and the two-match series to be played at Lord and Edgbaston between June 2 and 14. The England series will be just before the World Test Final of the tournament, starting June 18, which New Zealand is sure to have.
However, the IPL is expected to roll out in early June and NZC Chief Executive David White has said a “pragmatic” approach will be taken. NZC has allowed the free contracted players to appear in the IPL and so far it has never meant that any of them lost a Test match, even though they were on the 2015 England tour. arrive just days before the opening game.
But even if the dates don’t hit directly it may not be as simple as flying in from India according to the required Covid-19 quarantine protocols.
“Definitely not their favorite,” Williamson said of the potential pitfall. “I know when plans were put in place that wasn’t the idea then, but as we’ve seen, you can make plans in this day and age with them and they rarely go. to plan.
“For us it is possible to change as soon as possible, we have to wait and see when deadlines are reached to find out what is really happening before any decision can be made but it’s the perfect setting to be available and around for all that cricket. We just have to wait and see. “
Other first-choice test players Trent Boult (Mumbai Indians) and Kyle Jamieson (Royal Challengers Bangalore) and also fast bowler Lockie Ferguson (Kolkata Knight Riders) have IPL contracts that could push for a place.
Williamson and Boult have recently talked about being expected to be on the road for up to 10 months this year. Once the home season is over they will go straight to the IPL before moving to England (Williamson has a contract in the Hundreds) then New Zealand will go on trips to Bangladesh and Pakistan ahead of the Cup World T20 in India.
When a player returns to New Zealand they have to go through two weeks of loneliness under the government’s Covid-19 protocols.
The two-match series against England has been a late extension of the calendar and the games are not part of the World Test.
Depending on which franchises hit IPL a number of players could miss the Tests with the ECB also having said that they will allow their players to play the entire tournament if they have not san XI.
Andrew McGlashan is deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo