With the much-hyped Indian Premier League facing the hurdle of consolidating a place in the cricket calendar, its chairman Lalit Modi confessed that a second season in the same year for the star-studded Twenty20 competition is not possible.
The IPL will be played from April 18 to June 1 between eight franchise teams and Modi said first space needs to be found for the 'Champions Twenty20', which will feature the top two clubs of India, Australia, South Africa and England.
"We may look at a second season [the same year] years from now but I don't see a second season the same year in the next three or four years at least," Modi said.
"We may look at a shorter window some time in September when we are free and there is no international cricket. We are looking at that but we have to keep in mind that we have the Champions Twenty20 around that time, so we have to carve out windows for everything.
"Our priority is to bring the Champions Twenty20 in next and then look at a second season for the IPL in the future," he was quoted as saying by BBC Sport.
Meanwhile, England players' boss Sean Morris has said his cricketers want to play in the IPL and should be given the chance to do so or "money will talk".
"The value of the cricketer has just increased through what is happening in the IPL," Morris said.
"It's perfectly natural for the PCA to want our members to take advantage of that -- it's a unique opportunity," he said in reply to England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke remarks.
"We are not interested in people playing in the IPL," Clarke had said, adding that he would not change the domestic calendar to suit the Indian league.
IPL, the billion-dollar competition, which has attracted players from every leading cricket nation apart from England, is clashing with the English season.
