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Chelsea sought to bolster their options at the top end of the pitch when they splashed out £30m to sign Liam Delap from Ipswich Town in the summer transfer window.

The England U21 international scored 12 goals in the Premier League for the Tractor Boys in the 2024/25 campaign, per Sofascore, and seemed to be an exciting addition to Enzo Maresca’s squad.

Unfortunately, as shown in the graphic above, Delap has flopped for the Blues since his big-money move to Stamford Bridge, with no goal contributions so far.

The 22-year-old centre-forward is yet to prove that he has what it takes to lead the line as the main number nine for a team that is competing at the top end of the Premier League.

Chelsea eyeing move for new number nine

It is interesting, therefore, that a fresh report has emerged suggesting that the club are interested in adding another striker to their squad next month.

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Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

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According to Gazzetta dello Sport, via Football365, Chelsea have sent scouts to watch Bologna centre-forward Santiago Castro ahead of the upcoming January transfer window.

The report claims that the Blues are one of a number of Premier League sides keeping tabs on the 21-year-old striker, with Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa also keen on the attacker.

It adds that Chelsea have already made contact with the Bologna star’s representatives to discuss a possible deal, in hope of laying the groundwork for a move to be officially completed in January.

Gazzetta dello Sport also reveals that the Serie A side want a fee of up to £44m to let go of their centre-forward, and it remains to be seen whether or not the Blues are prepared to pay that price.

Why Chelsea should sign Santiago Castro

The Club World Cup champions should push to get a deal over the line for Castro when the January transfer window officially opens for business because he could come in as a perfect replacement for Delap.

As aforementioned, it is not working out for the Englishman at Stamford Bridge and bringing in a new striker could allow the club to send the 22-year-old out on loan for the second half of the campaign, in the hope that he can regain his confidence in front of goal.

Whilst Delap has struggled in the 2025/26 campaign, Castro has caught the eye with his performances for Bologna in Italy, scoring a late winner in the Coppa Italia just a few weeks ago, as shown in the clip below.

The 21-year-old marksman, who is a year younger than Delap, has outperformed the Chelsea number nine at league level with his performances in the Serie A for Bologna so far this term.

25/26 season

Delap (Premier League)

Castro (Serie A)

Appearances

9

14

xG

0.82

2.78

Goals

0

4

Goals per game

0.0

0.3

Big chances created

0

2

Assists

0

1

Duels won per game

2.3

3.0

Stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, the Argentine starlet has been directly involved in five goals in the Serie A, whilst outperforming his xG by 1.22 in 14 appearances.

Castro was described as a “complete no.9” and a “constant threat” by analyst and Como scout Ben Mattinson at the time of his move to Bologna, which is backed up by his statistics in the Italian top-flight since the start of the 2024/25 campaign.

Last season, per Sofascore, the £44m-rated talent scored eight goals from 7.63 xG and provided four assists, whilst he won 3.5 duels per game for his side.

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These statistics show that he has the quality to finish chances at an efficient rate, outperforming his xG this season and last term, on top of being a creator for his teammates and a strong duel winner in the centre-forward position.

Whether or not he can translate those performances over to the Premier League remains to be seen, but his output in a Bologna shirt at the age of 21 suggests that he is an exciting and promising young number nine who could be an excellent addition to the squad.

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And, based on their respesctive statistics at league level in the 2025/26 campaign, Castro could come in as a perfect replacement for Delap, who could be sent out on loan as a result of a new striker coming through the door next month.

	Kent, the Twenty20 holders, could form part of a South region, under new proposals for the EPL © Getty Images

If England is to create a viable Twenty20 competition to rival the Indian Premier League, then the 18 first-class counties are going to have to bite the bullet and merge into six regional sides. That is the message from Sean Morris, the new chief executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, who believes that without adaptation, English cricket faces being second-best to India for evermore.”This is a great opportunity for English cricket, an unbelievable chance for England to reassert itself,” Morris told The Guardian. “I just hope we take it. India, a big competitor, has got first to the market. Considering that we invented Twenty20, they should not have got there first. It is important that we act quickly.”Morris’s proposal is expected to be discussed at a meeting of the England & Wales Cricket Board on May 26, but plans are already in full swing following a week of talks with Allen Stanford, the Texan billionaire whose patronage has given English cricket renewed confidence as it seeks to respond to the threat of the IPL. Stanford told the BBC on Thursday that he believed that England was not only better placed to take the lead in Twenty20 cricket, but that the game could eventually overtake football as the world’s most popular sport.Should the regional plan come to fruition, there could be some enticing amalgamations on the cards. Lancashire and Yorkshire could be thrown in together with Durham as a Northern region, with Surrey, Middlesex and Essex all uniting under the London banner. Such a proposal may be anathema to the die-hard fans of the counties involved, but Morris cited the example of South African rugby, where traditional Currie Cup rivals have combined to form potent Super 14 franchises.”This is the biggest opportunity we will ever get to restructure,” said Morris. His argument is that, without reducing the number of competing sides, the talent on display would be spread too thinly, and the prospect of attracting the big-name players would diminish. “When you look at the broadcasting deal that will drive it and for sponsorship partners and for fans, does playing 18 teams really stack up? We need to have a product that is exportable back to India, because that is where the money is.”Stanford is willing to invest heavily in the scheme, but has effectively set the ECB a deadline of 2010 to get the competition up and running. “If I was to make a more aggressive bet I would say 2009. But no later than 2010 or they’ve missed the boat,” he told BBC Sport. “We all know that and I don’t think the British are going to miss the boat.”Potential regional sides

North Yorkshire, Lancashire, Durham
London Surrey, Middlesex, Essex
South Hampshire, Kent, Sussex
Wales and West Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Somerset
West Midlands Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Northants
East Midlands Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire

Nepal have announced an 18-member squad for a preparatory camp ahead of the the ACC women’s tournament in Malaysia starting July 11. Nepal had organised their first-ever national championship in June in a bid to pick a team for the tournament. Four teams – Baitadi, Nepalganj, Bhairahawa and Kathmandu – competed in the championship.Eight players from Nepalganj, the strongest side in the domestic circuit, four from Bhairahawa and three each from Baitadi and Kathmandu made it to the camp. What is unique about these sides is that many of their players are national-level athletes in other sports.Nary Thapa, the Nepalganj captain, is also the national badminton captain. Keshari Chaudhary, who has broken national records in high jump and triple jump, is also part of the Nepalganj side while Madhu Thapa, a Bhairahawa player, has played football for Nepal at the U-19 Asian Championship Qualifying Round.Last year Nepal, along with Singapore, won the ICC Global Development Award and Nepalganj received recognition for its initiative for women’s cricket. According to the ACC website, currently 1000 schoolgirls are registered to play cricket in the region.Arun Aryal, the Nepal chief coach, is optimistic about his team’s chances at the ACC tournament. “All the nations have just started women’s cricket, so I think all are at the same level,” Aryal told . “It won’t be surprising if we win the event.”Hong Kong, China, UAE, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Singapore and Thailand are also part of the tournament. Nepal’s first game – 30-over per side – is against Thailand on July 12.Preparatory squad Nary Thapa Magar, Manisha Rawal, Mamata Thapa, Samjhana Sharma, Binu Buda Magar, Keshari Chaudhary, Trishna Singh, Sita Rana, Nira Rajopadhyay, Radhika Thapa, Samikchhya Aryal, Madhu Thapa, Saraswoti Lamgade, Susmita Chaudhary, Nitu Thapa, Janaki Bhatta, Maya Rawal, Ritu Kanaujiya

Points TablesCarl Hopkinson led Sussex to a place in the final of the C&G Trophy on August 26 with a five wicket victory over holders Hampshire at Hove. His unbeaten 69 helped Sussex seal their first appearance in a major final for 13 years.Hopkinson and Mike Yardy (41) shared a crucial fifth-wicket stand of 95 in 19 overs as Sussex, set 255 to win, got home with seven balls to spare at Hove.Sussex skipper Chris Adams paid tribute to his team. “I can’t give enough credit to the youngsters in the side. It’s going to be a great day out for us so bring on whoever.”Sussex, who qualify for the final without having to win their last Southern Conference game against Gloucestershire, started strongly with Matt Prior (54) sharing an opening stand of 95 with Richard Montgomerie (44) in 16 overs. But the hosts later slipped to 120 for 4 with Adams, Murray Goodwin and Montgomerie all falling in the space of five overs.Hampshire, who chose to bat, were bowled out for 254 with three balls of their innings remaining. Michael Carberry and Sean Ervine had given them a solid start by sharing in a second-wicket stand of 106 in only a dozen overs.Hampshire, who needed to win to have any chance of reaching the final, lost Dominic Thornely and Greg Lamb cheaply before Dimitri Mascarenhas (42) and Nic Pothas (43*) took them past the 250 mark by sharing a sixth-wicket stand of 73 in 12 overs. But the innings ended tamely with Kirtley bowling Shane Warne, Shaun Udal and James Tomlinson for ducks in his final over.In the Northern Conference, Leicestershire eased to a four-wicket victory against Yorkshire at Grace Road, with a comfortable 8.2 overs to spare. After being sent into the field, Leicestershire’s bowlers hunted in a pack, each of them snaring a wicket to dismiss Yorkshire for 185.Alamgir Sheriyar continued to impress for his new/old county, trapping Craig White lbw with the very first ball of the innings. Matthew Wood followed quickly after and wickets continued to tumble regularly.David Masters was the pick of the bowlers, scalping 2 for a measly 22 from ten overs. Only Andrew Gale offered any resistance, stirring a minor storm with 63.There was no urgency in Leicestershire’s innings, but neither was there any need for them to hurry and they knocked off the runs in inevitable fashion, Tim New leading the charge with 51.

Titans 353 (de Villiers 124, Cullinan 99, Peterson 5-118, Kops 4-74) lead Warriors 165 (Steyn 5-30, Mbhalati 3-37) and 0 for 0 by 188 runs
ScorecardWicketkeeper-batsman AB de Villiers scored his second hundred of the season as the Titans pushed towards a lead over the Warriors at Buffalo Park. With his name already being bandied about for higher honours, this innings will do him no harm at all.After an early start to the second day, the Titans needed only four overs to take the final Warrior wickets, with Dale Steyn taking the first five-wicket haul of his career to reduce Warriors to 165.De Villiers opened the Titans innings, and showed scant regard for the likes of Makhaya Ntini and Mornantau Hayward, scoring a chanceless 124 as wickets fell around him. At 91 for 3, Daryll Cullinan came to the crease and together the pair added 123 before de Villiers gave Brent Kops his third wicket. Cullinan showed that he is still the fluent strokemaker of old, while Albie Morkel once again slapped the ball to all parts of the ground.Morkel tried once too often to clear the field, holing out for64, and Cullinan chipped a catch to midwicket for an excellent 99. Robin Peterson cashed in with 5 for 118 as the Titans looked for extra bonus points, while Brent Kops walked off with a tidy 4 for 74 as the Titans ended on 353, a lead of 188.The Warriors managed to face one over, without scoring, when lightintervened.Western Province Boland 206 (Kruis 5-57) v Eagles 202 for 5 (Willoughby3-50)
ScorecardCon de Lange top scored for Western Province Boland with 43, asthey nursed their score along to 206 at Newlands. DeonKruis, the Eagles seamer, took his second five-wicket haul of theseason as he picked up three of the last five wickets to fall.On a difficult pitch, the Eagles made a good start through a stand of 52 between Davey Jacobs and Gerhardus Liebenberg, but they then collapsed to 102 for 5 before Boeta Dippenaar and Nicky Boje got things back on track. They took the score to 202 for 5 with Dippenaar on 66 and Boje on 48 when stumps was called.Lions 361 for 8 (McKenzie 100, Hall 51*, Benkenstein 3-27) v Dolphins
ScorecardAndrew Hall put some spark into a rain-dampened match between the Dolphins and the Lions at Durban. After a morning where runs had been at a premium, Hall came out and showed that the pitch was conducive to scoring runs, stroking his way to 64 off 100 balls. HD Ackerman had scored a painfully slow 48 in 287 minutes while Neil McKenzie laboured his way to 100 in 387 minutes. Together they added 144 in 63.2 overs.It was Dale Benkenstein who engineered the breakthrough as he took three wickets before rain mercifully forced the players off the field for 65 minutes. On resumption Hall and David Terbrugge put on 113 for the ninth wicket with Terbrugge passing his previous best of 35 before bad light ended play with the Lions on a tedious 361 for 8.

Martyn Ball: ‘The players in this country are very upset’© Getty Images

A report in today’s Times claims that the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) is so angry with the decision to allow two overseas players per county in 2005 that its members are considering strike action.On Tuesday, the First Class Forum announced that there would be no change to the number of overseas players in 2005, even though it had been widely expected that it would be cut to one per county, which was the recommendation of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC).”These people [the CAC] have done a lot of research for the good of the game and the county chairmen have refused to take note,” Martyn Ball, the PCA chairman, told the newspaper. “The players in this country are very upset about that.”The PCA has campaigned long and hard on the issue. It is worried about the number of foreign players appearing in domestic cricket, a situation exacerbated by the European Union laws on rights to work which have enabled many overseas-based players to gain domestic qualification courtesy of their ancestry.At the PCA’s AGM last month, there was an overwhelming vote to reduce the number of official overseas players. “It became very heated,” Ball, who plays for Gloucestershire, explained. “Some wanted to look at taking union action and discussed the possibility of withholding labour from televised matches. But we took legal advice and decided against it.” But now he admitted that might be a possibility. “I’m not saying we’ll be taking action, but we’ll look at our position and I’m not discounting it.”While there is a degree of self-interest in the PCA’s stand – overseas players, it claims, prevent talented English players from coming through – Ball was eager to highlight the effect on the national side, and on England’s finances.”It seems ludicrous that, while we’re also taking massive steps to strengthen the grass roots and build academies, so much money is going on overseas players,” he said. “The game in this country needs a strong, vibrant England team, but if we continue to limit the opportunities for our best young players, it’s always going to be a struggle to compete for the Ashes or the World Cup.”

It was an interesting day’s cricket at New Road as Worcestershire played the Zimbabweans. The first session belonged to the county, the second to the tourists, and the third, more even, went slightly in favour of the county. In reply to Worcestershire’s 262 all out, the Zimbabweans were 69 for 3 at the close.The Zimbabwean tourists were treated to the renowned Worcester ground at its best on the first morning of their match against a side purporting to represent the county but, as usual against touring teams, without many of its leading players. The sun was shining warmly, the breeze was light and the scenery delightful.The pitch, however, was a second-hand one, having been used before and with a definite worn patch at one end – not very satisfactory. The groundsman said that the usual flooding of the River Severn had not reached as far as the square this year and so there were fewer difficulties in early-season preparation.Worcester is now the home of Graeme Hick, but he opted not to play against his former countrymen. The county won the toss and decided to bat.Play began quietly, with some solid batting by Stephen Peters and Anurag Singh against some variable seam bowling by the Zimbabweans. Andy Blignaut, erratic at first, settled down and took the first wicket, when Singh (14) edged a ball to the left of gully, from where Grant Flower took a good diving catch. Peters quickly followed for 18, trying to shoulder arms to Blignaut, but instead knocking the ball right on to his middle stump. Worcestershire were 42 for 2.After a brief, tidy opening spell by Heath Streak, Douglas Hondo got some lift to give the batsmen occasional problems. Unfortunate, none of them had the consistent accuracy to impose pressure on the batsmen, who only had to wait for the bad ball to prosper. Travis Friend bowled little better than his disasters in Zimbabwe at the end of last season, still planting the ball all too frequently in the wrong half of the pitch.Vikram Solanki and Ben Smith were soon stroking the ball sweetly and picking up runs with ease, and Solanki slashed a long hop from Friend over third man for six. Fasting off the plethora of short deliveries and driving sweetly when the bowlers overpitched, Solanki raced to his fifty off 45 balls during the course of four boundaries in an over off Hondo.Friend’s disastrous spell came to an end with 43 runs off four overs – only for him to change ends, plant his first ball halfway down the pitch and present Smith with another boundary. Zimbabwe’s chances were not improved when Streak left the field, reportedly with a slight back strain. At lunch Worcestershire were firmly in the driving seat at 155 for 2.In rather more cloudy conditions after lunch, Worcestershire soon lost the wicket of Solanki, who appeared to throw it away; he leapt down the pitch to try to hit Raymond Price over the top and was easily stumped by Tatenda Taibu. The third-wicket stand had added 129, and this crucial wicket proved to be the turning point of the innings.Smith, less flamboyant than Solanki, went on to reach his fifty off 76 balls. Kadeer Ali (10) never looked quite comfortable before he was caught at the wicket off Douglas Hondo in a remarkable over. Smith (53) fell in the same way two balls later, and then Gareth Batty was yorked first ball. Hero Hondo had taken three wickets in five balls, and Worcestershire were suddenly 188 for 6.South African Andrew Hall led an aggressive recovery, in company with the more cautious James Pipe, until he gloved an attempted sweep off Flower and provided Taibu with his fourth catch of the innings, for 34. Again wickets came in threes, as Kabir Ali was foolishly run out by some distance without scoring, and a leading edge from Pipe (15) resulted in a fine diving return catch by Flower (241 for 9).The last-wicket stand never lacked interest, as at first both Matthew Mason and Mark Harrity looked ready to get out at any moment. There was a dropped catch, a fluffed possible run-out, and then the boundaries, some of them rather rustic, began to come off the spinners. Finally another agricultural heave by Harrity (16) gave Taibu his fourth catch and brought the innings to an end for 262, with Mason unbeaten on 4.Hondo, with 3 for 53, returned the best figures, while Blignaut and left-arm spinners Price and Flower took two wickets each.It was then Zimbabwe’s turn for suicidal batting, with the run-out of Dion Ebrahim off the first ball of the innings. Looking for a quick single for a push past the bowler, he was turned back too late by Mark Vermeulen and was left stranded. They are not the best-matched of opening pairs, as Ebrahim is a quick runner who nevertheless does not find it easy to work the ball for singles, while Vermeulen would far rather hit leisurely boundaries than hard-working singles.Vermeulen scored only 11 before edging Kabeer Ali to second slip, leaving Stuart Carlisle and Grant Flower to counter the bowling of Kabeer and Harrity, who looked more dangerous than their own bowlers. Flower was caught at third slip off a no-ball after a painfully long time without scoring. Both batsmen battled for survival, beaten several times, and Carlisle survived another mix-up as negotiations broke down over a quick single, and then a dropped catch in the gully.Gradually the runs began to come, although both batsmen struggled. Flower finally fell for a painful 18, caught low in the slips off Matt Mason (58 for 3). Carlisle (29) and Barney Rogers (1) survived until the close.

A ninth-wicket partnership of 77 in 17 overs between Robert Croft and Dean Cosker lifted Glamorgan from a gloomy 170-8 and helped them secure two batting points on the rain-interrupted opening day of the CricInfo Championship match against Surrey in Cardiff.Glamorgan were eventually dismissed for 258 in 74.4 overs but the rain that had already cost 23 overs of the day then returned to wash out the final four overs of play and save Surrey from what could have been a testing few minutes.In theory at least, Surrey began the day needing a further four points to ensure against joining Glamorgan in the second division next season and they set off strongly after Steve James had won the toss and chosen to bat first under heavy skies.Ben Hollioake, who shared the new ball with Martin Bicknell, sent back Jimmy Maher and Ian Thomas in successive overs and Bicknell then accounted for James and Adrian Dale to reduce Glamorgan to 62-4 in the 21st over.Michael Powell and Jonathan Hughes began the recovery with a partnership of 81 for the fifth wicket. Hughes, a 20-year-old right-hand bastman, played plenty of aggressive shots, including a straight six off Ian Salisbury, and showed few nerves on his Championship debut.Powell reached his half-century off 91 balls with five fours and had moved on to 56 when he edged Ed Giddins to first slip. Giddins, who did not bowl until the second over after lunch, then sent back Hughes for a well struck 38 off 66 balls, Mark Wallace and Darren Thomas to finish with 4-71 from 16 overs.It left Croft and Cosker to lift Glamorgan’s spirits with their encouraging late partnership and Croft was eventually unbeaten on 70 from 83 balls with eight fours and a six.

Kumar Sangakkara has said being relieved of the gloves in Tests was the “best thing” that happened to his career.”I didn’t like it when they stopped me keeping,” Sangakkara said. “But the selection committee spoke to me and said: ‘What we’re trying to do is improve your batting and to get you scoring more runs for the team. We are asking you to do this. It will be better for the team and better for you.’ At the time, I thought: ‘That’s not true. I can do both.’ But when I look back on it now, that was the best thing to happen to me. It’s great that they took that decision for me, without letting me take it. That has hugely influenced the runs that I scored, and the centuries I made.”Sangakkara had begun his Test career behind the stumps, as Romesh Kaluwitharana’s replacement. Even though he had some success with the bat in the early years, averaging 46.90 in mid-2006, the Ashantha de Mel-led selection committee believed he would be more valuable to the side as a specialist batsman. Sangakkara had by then become Sri Lanka’s regular No. 3 batsman, raising concerns that he would be too fatigued to excel at both roles.A nine-year boom in his batting output has followed the decision to play him as a batsman only. In 84 Tests as a specialist batsman, Sangakkara has hit 9188 runs at an average of 68.05. That average is only second to Don Bradman’s for non-wicketkeepers who have scored more than 1000 Test runs.Sangakkara admitted he regrets not having won a World Cup after playing in two finals, but took particular pleasure from Sri Lanka’s performances in major tournaments. Sri Lanka’s inability to win Tests in Australia and India had also grated, but the team has generally fared better in England. They drew 1-1 in 2006, then defeated England 1-0 last year.”I remember going to England with the team last year, and beating England 1-0 in that series was the best overseas tour I have been on,” he said. “In that 2006 series when we drew, we also won the one-dayers 5-0.”All the wins we have had, especially away from home, have been special. Beating Australia for the first time in a one-day series in 2010, the World T20 which we won it – all of these have been really standout moments for me. But also, once Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu, Chaminda Vaas, Aravinda de Silva all of these guys left, I’m happy to have been part of a set-up that produced cricketers like Angelo Mathews, Lasith Malinga, Upul Tharanga – and the one guy who has been outstanding and who is never spoken about – Rangana Herath.”Though his batting is often called attractive, Sangakkara said he does not consider himself a stylist. “I used to have these arguments with Thilan Samaraweera in the dressing room about who had had the best looking forward defensive shot in the Sri Lankan side. He always told me that I had the ugliest forward defensive shot he had ever seen in his life and Mahela Jayawardene and Marvan Attapattu had the nicest,” Sangakkara said.”They always say the left-handers were extremely graceful. I watched Brian Lara, then Upul Tharanga and Lahiru Thirmanne from the younger lot, and feel they are much more pleasant to look at. Whenever I play the cover drive, with the back knee bent and head back, I just say to myself: ‘How can that be stylish?’ But I’m glad with the amount if runs I’ve scored and how effective I’ve been.”

	Allen Stanford has put millions of dollars into his tournament © Stanford 20/20

Allen Stanford, the Texan billionaire behind Stanford 20/20, is expected to offer US$20 million for a one-off, winner-takes-all fixture between England and an All-Stars West Indies XI, when he meets the ECB at Lord’s on Tuesday to discuss possible joint ventures.According to the BBC, Stanford’s idea would be for the match to take place on England’s tour of the Caribbean next winter, although he has already made similar offers to both South Africa and India, and had them rejected. With the Indian Premier League just three days away, however, the ECB are eager to react to the game’s changing landscape.”Allen Stanford is an individual who is extremely wealthy and really doesn’t take no for an answer,” the veteran West Indian commentator, Tony Cozier, told BBC Sport. “He will come in and put forward a proposal that he will feel cannot be turned down, but I understand Giles Clarke is similar [in character] so we will see.”Clarke, the ECB chairman, has already talked about the creation of an English Premier League (EPL) to run during the middle of the domestic season when most international teams have time off. The hope is that the tournament would be able to attract overseas stars the same way as the IPL and in turn ward off the threat of English players jumping ship.”We don’t want a knee-jerk reaction to the IPL,” said Clarke, “but we believe that we can set up a robust, spectator-friendly, economically sustainable competition of our own which will not cut across the core revenue streams of Test and one-day international cricket.”Stanford could be a useful ally for the ECB as he has already shown his ability to set up and run a successful Twenty20 tournament then sell it overseas. Stanford is keen on multiple franchise tournaments and Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, has said an EPL would be welcome if it didn’t clash with the Indian version.Sean Morris, the chief executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, told the : “Looking at all options is pure commercial commonsense. There is no proof yet that the global TV market is strong enough to have a lot of different leagues,” he said. “But it is genuinely achievable to make it attractive for everyone to play in.”If we have got the right format and scheduling that will be an attractive product to the wider TV audience and that is where most of the money will come from. Half-a-billion pairs of watching eyes is also appealing to outside investment.”Kevin Pietersen, who has made no secret of the fact he would love to play in the IPL, was encouraged by the sound of the idea. “Until I hear more about Stanford and his proposals I cannot comment,” he told AFP, “but it sounds great, very exciting for players and spectators.”He would not be drawn on the Indian issue again. ” “I have said all I am going to say about the IPL. I am not going to get into a slanging match with the people who employ me. I do not want to jeopardise my England career. All I ever asked for was some space to play both.”Clarke, along with David Collier, the ECB chief executive, and John Perera, the commercial director, are due to attend the launch of the IPL later this week where they will hold talks with Modi.