 Marylebone Cricket Club, MCC, has said that they have decided not to bid for an
IPL franchise. Earlier, they had said that they would be bidding for one of the
two open slots in the IPL from the next season, but now, they have back-tracked
on it. The chief executive of the MCC, Keith Bradshaw, has said that they
will not bid for the IPL despite having planned for it earlier, and that they
would like to have a broader working relationship with the tournament.
Currently, the tournament has eight teams, which is the fact since the first
edition. From the fourth edition onwards there will be two more teams added
to the tournament. Currently, there are also only 60 games played in the tournament,
but will be an increase to 94 games.
Bradshaw had gone to India to meet potential investors and consortium members
along with another member of the MCC, Anthony Wreford. He said that he
needed to talk with potential investors in the project as a part of a consortium
members rather than going alone. However, after an MCC committee meeting at
Lord's they decided that the project was not feasible for them.
Bradshaw said that the members of the MCC had had a reasonably healhy debate,
but in the end, had decided not to go ahead with the deal. He added, "After
a healthy debate and a thorough investigation, MCC's Committee has decided to
uphold the recommendation of our working party not to proceed as an equity stakeholder
in a new IPL franchise."
However, he also told the media that despite the decision, they would continue
to discuss other plans with the IPL. They also said that they would want to
continue supporting the tournament through the Marylebone Cricket Club
(MCC) spirit of cricket campaign. He also said that they would like to maintain
a close working relationship with them.
"The world of cricket is fast-changing and there's no doubt the IPL is
going to be a central part of that world for the foreseeable future. We will
remain in close contact with the Indian Premier League to develop mutually
beneficial opportunities."
Apart from MCC, there was interest shown by an English soccer club. It has
been said that the club to exhibit interest is Manchester City, but so far none
of the teams have been forthcoming.
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