Pressure is ideal preparation

The Twenty20 Champions League is welcomed by everyone © Getty Images

Peter Moores has welcomed the addition of the Champions League to an already crowded calendar for his England players as they build up to next year’s Ashes summer.

The England coach believes the extra incentive of £2.5million prize money for the Champions League can only help the county game and help prepare players for the demands of international cricket.

Criticised as being soft and uncompetitive for years, championship cricket has just received a boost with Somerset’s Justin Langer praising the intensity of Division One, and Moores believes Twenty20 could follow suit now the two finalists have been awarded places in the Champions League.

“The more competitions we can get that put players under pressure to deliver is great for our own game,” enthused Moores.

“That’s really good for bringing people through, that they play intense cricket and they’re asked to deliver at certain times and they have to deliver in that moment.

“That, to me, is what international sport is all about. That, as a carrot, at the end of our season is good for our own domestic game.”

The Champions League, which is scheduled to be staged either in the Middle East or India, is due to follow straight after the conclusion of the ICC Champions Trophy tournament in Pakistan on September 28.

If any England players are also involved in that, they could be facing just a couple of weeks off before flying out to India in November for a six-week tour which is expected to include two Tests and five one-day internationals.

There could be a similar scheduling problem next year after the tour to West Indies finishes in April with ECB chief executive David Collier admitting they are considering giving a 10-day window to allow England’s leading players to experience the lucrative Indian Premier League.

That would reduce any rest period they had before a two-Test series at the start of the summer, which is scheduled for Zimbabwe at present, followed by the ICC World Twenty20 tournament and a home Ashes series.

It is a difficult balancing act which coach Moores is happy to have and believes between England’s management and the players, they can work out a satisfactory compromise for all parties.

“We’ve got a very committed group of players that want to play for England,” stressed Moores.

“They know what’s coming up and they also know that as well as things like the IPL there is also the 2009 World Twenty20 in their own country, you’ve got an Ashes series and all these different things going on and they want to play for England.

“That doesn’t mean they won’t want to play in the IPL if the opportunity comes up, but at the moment everyone is being pretty sensible about it.

“There are decisions to be made and I think we can make them fairly to make sure players aren’t over-working but also they are getting the opportunity to expose themselves to different things.”

But Moores, who will be given the final say on players’ availability for the Champions League and IPL, stressed: “There’s no doubt the IPL would be a good experience for any player to play in with the ICC World Twenty20 coming up in 2009.

“What we have to do is balance that with it being at the end of a West Indies tour and making sure we don’t expose players to injury and they’re not fatigued for what will be a busy summer.”

He added: “What I’m getting back from the players is they are committed to playing for their country. I also think the ECB are looking after them well.

“They are well rewarded, the Stanford thing is coming along so there is a lot to be said for being a player at the moment.

“The key for them is to concentrate on making sure they play well and they enjoy the game and the rest will look after itself.”