In the latest twist of the tale, South Africa has emerged as the more likely contender for hosting the upcoming cricket Twenty-20 Tournament. Although the blame goes to notorious English Drizzle for the turnaround, there are other factors that worked together in receding England’s chances. In England, hotel accommodation could be an issue due to a slew of high profile sporting and other international events such as London Marathon, FA Cup Semi-Finals and finals and G20 Summit. With so many mega events round the corner, the England Police seem to suffer from the same predicaments its Indian counterpart; the senior cops in England were believed to voice their concerns about the practicalities of working out security measures for so many important events coinciding over almost the same span of time. During the span, for two or three days it would be absolutely difficult to manage hotel rooms for the huge contingent of IPL Players and Officials. Moreover, the English County Season kicks off from April 15 and the counties, especially Yorkshire is not comfortable with the idea of County season clashing with Indian Premier League matches.

Now let’s analyze the comparative advantages of South Africa. First of all, the top brasses on both sides - Gerald Majola and IPL Boss Lalit Modi - shares a cordial relationship.  And this comfort level will be helpful in expedite the things and putting together such a mammoth task within an extraordinarily short period of time. The South African Cricket Body has promised a full red carpet treatment for IPL. The SA Government has promised all sorts of cooperation; it is ready to process over thousand visas well within 10-days, as reports the Guardian. The weather at this point of the year is favorable and at least lot better than English weather. And above all, South Africa will be a lot cheaper option for the organizers and in its second year, when IPL is facing all sports of adversaries from all corners, saving on cash can come to be an important deciding factor. But for the pro-South African Lobbyists, the biggest argument relates to the television timing; while in England, it will span between 11:30 to 3:30, in South Africa it can start a little latter at 12:30 local time.

 

The Problems in Hosting IPL in England

 

Any cricket board of the world would have jumped at the idea of hosting a million dollar extravaganza as Indian Premier League. But ECB is seemingly hesitant in taking bold decisions and making out a full commitment to make the things happen. While the notorious English weather plays the natural spoilsport, the high fees demanded by ECB makes the things worse for the IPL organizers. Franchisers clearly prefer England over South Africa, simply because of the commercial prospect; the England stadiums will pack up more Indian spectators than South Africa. But England is reputed for its conservative take on such issues and Lalit Modi will have to take the final decision latest by Tuesday evening. Either, ECB would shake off its inhibition and act fast or the trophy would be lifted by the South African Cricket.

Meanwhile, the CSA officials, who are expecting a final decision by Wednesday morning, met over a conference call on Monday afternoon, where they were updated on the latest IPL developments. Shaun Pollock, the Former South African Captain and current advisor to the Mumbai Indians, offered to act as the conduit between IPL franchises and the KwaZulu-Natal Board. Back home, the Home minister ruled out any possibility of asking BCCI from puling back from their decision of moving IPL abroad.

As the trend suggests, the IPL players are more likely to board the plane for Johannesburg than the plane for London.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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