England asked to look into hosting IPL

England and Wales Cricket Board is looking into the possibility of hosting this year's Indian Premier League after security concerns forced organizers to move the Twenty20 tournament abroad.

South Africa has also been approached to host the second edition of the lucrative annual event after the Indian cricket board fail to gain security clearance from its government due to a clash of schedule with general elections.

The 59-match tournament, which is due to be staged from April 10 to May 24, will be held at times to suit Indian TV viewers, IPL chairman Lalit Modi said. India's capital, New Delhi, is four hours ahead of Johannesburg, with London a further two behind.

By shifting the tournament to Britain, which is home to more than 1.5 million people of Indian descent, players would be able to stay in the country to join their international teams for the June 1 start of the Twenty20 World Cup.

England began a feasibility study at the request of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the boards have already held exploratory discussions about relocating the tournament. Further meetings will be held in the coming week, the ECB said.

"We have a very good relationship with the BCCI if they need any help on matters," ECB chairman Giles Clarke said on Sunday. "We normally talk to them a great deal and we would be delighted to help again."

India's federal Home Ministry rejected two proposed itineraries and suggested the event could be deferred to start after the elections, but IPL officials didn't want to change the dates as it would be difficult to find another slot in a crowded international calendar.

The ministry then advised IPL officials to speak with security agencies in the states where matches were to be played.

Some states gave clearance but a few refused to sanction matches until the elections were over and at least two states changed their decision to permit games, forcing the BCCI to look for a foreign venue.

Modi said the BCCI had to act and that it will now be "a domestic tournament being staged at an international venue."

"We need continuity in the league, we can't have a situation where the IPL was not played this year," Modi said. "We have the availability of lots of venues in multiple countries, now we need to work out the schedule. Each team will have a home city and stadium, and preliminary league matches will be played as usual on a home and away basis.

The United Arab Emirates could not be an alternate host, Abu Dhabi Cricket Association President Dilwar Mani said.

"We have not been approached and we are already committed to the Pakistan-Australia series (between April 22 and May 7)," Mani told The Associated Press by telephone. "There is no way we could prepare for that if the IPL tournament was taking place here. The IPL is 59 games and requires multiple venues and we only have three stadiums at Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah."