London: Marylebone Cricket Club and Surrey are mulling over a proposal by Indian Premier League organisers to hold exhibition matches involving IPL franchise teams at the Lord's and Brit Oval this season, a media report claimed today.
The report said that MCC and Surrey have been approached by IPL organisers and the two clubs have not rejected the offer as "all 18 counties come to terms with the significant impact that it (IPL) could have on the game this season."
"Lord's and the Brit Oval are considering initial offers to stage games involving an Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise this season," The Times reported. The report said after bagging lucrative television deals and huge revenues from other sources, IPL was keen to expand beyond the inaugural tournament, which runs from April 18 to June 1 in eight Indian cities.
Surrey Chief Executive Paul Sheldon declined to confirm that his county have been targeted by the IPL, while MCC would not make any comments. "We are not making any comment on this story at the moment," an MCC spokesman was quoted as saying by the newspaper. Another county side Hampshire also denied it was contacted by IPL.
