March 28, 2008	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 19, 1429

WELLINGTON, March 27: Five New Zealand players have been given permission to miss the start of this year’s tour of England to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 tournament.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has agreed to let their IPL-signed players: Daniel Vettori, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum, Kyle Mills and Ross Taylor arrive in England a week later than their team-mates.

The players have been told to report for duty by May 1, two weeks before the start of the first Test at Lord’s. The IPL starts April 18.

They will miss New Zealand’s first two practice matches, against the MCC and Kent, but will be available for the remaining four warm-up matches prior to the opening Test.

“We have reached a decision which I believe is fair and is also consistent with the best cricketing outcome,” NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan said on Thursday. “For players that are playing a high standard of international cricket, two weeks is a good level of preparation.

“The May 1 deadline date will give the players time to acclimatise to English conditions as they will be available for two first-class matches, prior to the Test series beginning.”—Reuters