Lack of opportunity to play IPL could frustrate England players, says Matt Prior

New Delhi: England wicketkeeper-batsman Matt Prior on Thursday said that the ECB will need to soften its stand towards the Indian Premier League otherwise the players will become increasing frustrated on missing out on the cash-rich Twenty20 league.

"People love them and the players enjoy playing in them, so there are going to be more and more people getting frustrated at the lack of opportunity to play in the IPL. So things may have to change in time," said Prior speaking to BBC Sport.

The Sussex star also stated that even though he is committed to play for England, IPL and other Twenty20 competitions are not going away and lack of opportunities to play in these leagues owing to ECB's stern stance might cause players to consider retiring early from Test cricket to earn money in the IPL.

Prior suggested a change in the scheduling of the Tests to allow England players an opportunity to play in the IPL.

"If you ask any Englishman or Australian, 'would you rather score a T20 hundred or an Ashes hundred?', I know which one most people would go with, but guys are going to start looking at it," said Prior. "I know for a fact that players want to play in the IPL. You can't get away from the fact that there is an enormous amount of money at stake," he added.

Currently, only two centrally contracted England players are a part of the IPL (Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan) with the likes of Matt Prior and Ravi Bopara going unsold in the recently held players' auction in Chennai.

The ECB only allows England-contracted players to play half of the IPL season and Prior suggested a change in the scheduling of the Tests to allow England players an opportunity to play in the IPL.

"I'm employed by the ECB, so I do what the ECB says right now. If that's when the Test matches are, then that's when the Test matches are. My priority is playing Test cricket for England and when I am needed to play Test cricket for England I will play," stated Prior but he also added, "The one thing, however, is that the IPL and these Twenty20 competitions are not going away. People love them and the players enjoy playing in them, so there are going to be more and more people getting frustrated at the lack of opportunity to play in the IPL. So things may have to change in time."

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