Indian Premier League Observer

Former Australian pacer Glenn McGrath has expressed shock at the results of a new survey which said that more than half of Australian contracted players would give up their national colours for the lurcative IPL. McGrath, who was bought by the Delhi Daredevils IPL team, has said that money could never replace the pride of playing for one’s country.

“I read about the survey and it has thrown up some interesting figures and I am quite surprised by them. I would be very disappointed if they start putting IPL over country as I think playing for your country is the most important thing,” McGrath said in Delhi today.

The survey in discussion was the one organised by the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA), which showed that 47 per cent of the centrally contracted and the 49 per cent of the state players were ready to end their national career for playing in the cash rich Indian Twenty20 tournaments, the Indian Premier League(IPL) and the Indian Cricket League (ICL).

McGrath also hoped that the International Cricket Council (ICC) would make a window in the cricket calendar to accommodate the IPL, so that the players participating in the tournament would not have to dump their international duties. “I hope the ICC works out something to prevent such a situation and nothing of this sort happens.”

McGrath said, “IPL has certainly given 35-plus players a chance to continue playing cricket and it’s a good thing for players like Shane (Warne) and me.” McGrath also expected that the new tournament would also renew his old rivalry with the Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, who would lead the Mumbai Indians IPL franchisee.

The IPL tournament which kickstarts on April 18 will also see the likes of Andrew Symonds as a member in the Hyderabad team. “We know how passionate the Indians are about cricket and cricketers. I think the crowd here will be excited to see him because is one of the best one-day players at the moment and the Indians know their cricket quite well,” McGrath said.