The IPL is a waste of time and just a chance for the players to earn a quick buck. I'd much rather our players were warming up here in England for the test series this summer with their counties getting used to the conditions. But the ECB have tried stopping them before and rather predictably the players threw their toys out of the pram because they wouldn't be getting their pay cheque.
The IPL might be a waste of our time....but it is Indian money that is currently driving world cricket and that means limited overs stuff. The ECB went for a strategy of developing more Test grounds, when the rest of the world aren't much bothered by Test cricket....see Chris Gayle. This strategy, together with a recession has seen the counties racking up massive debt. A down side of this, is an inabilty to attract the best players, for anything other than a 20 over slog for a couple of weeks.
Still the summer has always been played out against a backdrop of some sort of crisis, so I dare say cricket will survive....looking forward to the first Test v Ceylon
