MillionMilesAway
Well-Known Member
I don't see why they can't do both? This is the ECB trying to rest and rotate the IPL players, I'm sure if Buttler, Moeen, Bairstow etc. had the chance to play for England this past fortnight instead of playing in the Blast then they would have.
I think the suggestion was in general - this year would have been different because the IPL was suspended rather than running to the end of May.
The returning IPLers were only cleared on about 17th May - only just over 2 weeks before the first test. I assume that preparations and planning for the summer was already in place - they'd have had to play both county games to have seen a red ball before the NZ matches, and as it happened I don't think any of the three you mentioned played in either. That might have been as a result of not being in the test matches, but seems to have just left them not playing anything which seems odd.