Cricket: 'Have had no official request from BCCI to change dates', clarifies ECB

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has clarified that there have been no requests from the Indian cricket board (BCCI) to tweak the schedule of the upcoming five-match Test series between India and England. 

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According to a report in The Times of India, the BCCI has held talks with the ECB to tweak the five-Test series and carve out a window for IPL 2021, which had to be postponed indefinitely after 29 matches as multiple COVID-19 cases emerged within the players and staff in the bio-secure bubble. 

“BCCI and the ECB are in discussions to tweak the five-Test series. Details of those discussions aren’t public yet. But in whichever manner the ECB agrees to tweak the Test series, they will want the IPL in England because the counties can earn from it. There’ll be a good chance of a quid pro quo,” a source was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

“Only if costs are escalating to a point where it starts affecting stakeholders, the BCCI will consider the UAE as the second option for the IPL. On that front, we aren’t even discounting the idea of hosting the IPL in Sri Lanka,” the sources added.

However, a spokesman for the English cricket board told TOI that they did not receive any such requests. 

"We talk to the BCCI on a regular basis about a wide range of issues especially as we address the challenges of Covid-19, but have had no official request to change dates and are continuing to plan for the five Test series as is scheduled."

The five-match Test series will commence on August 4 and the venues will be Nottingham, Lord's, Leeds, Oval and Old Trafford. The series will take place after World Test Championship Finals between India and New Zealand that will be played at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton.