Christchurch: Thanks to the Indian Premier League (IPL), New Zealand will be without their five key players, including captain Daniel Vettori, in the first two warm-up matches in their forthcoming England tour.

Though the organisers of the cash-awash Twenty20 extravaganza promised IPL would not affect international fixture, New Zealand has been forced to spare their key players, who would not be available for national duty in those two ties.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive Justin Vaughan today confirmed that the quintet of Vettori, Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram, Ross Taylor and Kyle Mills would arrive in England only after completing their IPL duties, thus missing the one-day warm-up against MCC on April 27 and the three-day fixture with Kent that starts the next day.

"I have met with individual players, the coach, the Blackcaps team as a whole and the New Zealand Cricket Players Association (NZCPA) to discuss the arrival options for the IPL players and have reached a decision which I believe is fair and is also consistent with the best cricketing outcome," Vaughan said.

"When the itinerary for the England tour was put in place, it was not envisaged that a number of our players would be playing quality cricket in India.

"For players that are playing a high standard of international cricket, two weeks is a good level of preparation," he said as he announced a May 1 deadline for the ICL-contracted cricketers to arrive in England.
Source : PTI