English players with "Indian Premier League ambitions" are "seeking a re-working of the agreement that sees them reimburse their counties for absence," according to Richard Gibson of the London DAILY MAIL. The bid to get the "long-standing wage deduction rates altered" coincides with concerns that the money filtering down to participants from the England & Wales Cricket Board's planned Twenty20 tournament will be "heavily diluted by a similar process." While centrally-contracted players are not as "adversely affected due to higher annual wages and a smaller cut of their IPL earnings compensating the ECB, those on traditional county deals are aggrieved at the proportion they must return to their primary employers." Although a Test player is "required to pay back 0.5% of their annual salary for each day away, those paid by their clubs are on a rate of 1% for the first 21 days with a drop to 0.7% per day thereafter." The situation is "further complicated by the fact that IPL franchises can reduce the earnings of players idle due to non-selection or injury pro rata by up to 20% of their stays in India" (DAILY MAIL, 4/29).
