IPL Auctions Announce Players; Ponting Expresses Reservations

Contrary to speculation that 70-80 players were be thrown into the hat for the IPL auction, a total of 111 players have been named, a plethora of them from Australia. But Ricky Ponting, the Australian skipper, has expressed reservations about the availability of the players.
The IPL managed to broker peace with the England players who refused to sign their central contracts without confirmation of whether the ECB and the England counties would release them for a three week period during the second IPL season. While Lalit Modi led IPL finally managed to sign on the England players with a two year commitment, Ponting is already concerned that the present IPL season may well have to do with the frontline Australian players.
Australia are caught between touring South Africa next month to be followed up by a possible series against Pakistan at a neutral venue before the Australian players arrive in England towards the end of May for the second World Twenty20 championships to be followed up by the Ashes that will see most of these players spend up to four months in the UK.
In light of that, Ponting is not sure whether players would use the small interval for rest or would agree to the demands of the IPL demanding on the position of the respective franchisees at that stage of the IPL. Lalit Modi may be in a muddle of his own, but the franchisees may not take too kindly to the views proposed given that they have shelled out big bucks for these big names.

IPL Auctions = Names in the Fray

England (19): Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison, Ravi Bopara, Monty Panesar, Robert Key, James Foster, Sajid Mahmood, Matt Prior, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Owais Shah, Darren Gough, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, Luke Wright, James Anderson, Ed Joyce, Dominic Cork

South Africa (14): Gulam Bodi, Rory Kleinveldt, Charl Langeveldt, Ashwell Prince, JP Duminy, Martin van Jaarsveld, Roelof van der Merwe, Andre Nel, Neil McKenzie, Yusuf Abdullah, Paul Harris, Johan Botha, Morne van Wyk, Tyron Henderson

Australia (27):Brad Haddin, Michael Clarke, Nathan Hauritz, Stuart Clark, Brad Hogg, Beau Casson, Mark Cameron, Peter Forrest, Lee Carseldine, Doug Bollinger, Michael Dighton, Jason Krejza, Nathan Reardon, Chris Hartley, Shaun Tait, Ashley Noffke, Bryce McGain, George Bailey, Travis Birt, Michael Hill, Chris Swan, Michael Klinger, Ben Edmondson, Aiden Blizzard, Mark Cosgrove, Adam Voges, Shane Harwood

New Zealand (9); Mark Gillespie, Tim Southee, Jesse Ryder, Jeetan Patel, Kyle Mills, Chris Martin, Jamie How, Peter Fulton, James Franklin

Pakistan (5): Asim Kamal, Mohammad Hafeez, Yasir Hameed, Danish Kaneria, Yasir Arafat

Sri Lanka (15):Thilan Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekara, Mahela Udawatte, Dammika Prasad, Thilina Kandamby, Kaushalya Weeraratne, Jehan Mubarak, Dilhara Lokuhettige, Malinga Bandara, Malinda Warnapura, Michael Vandort, Prasanna Jayawardene, Upul Tharanga, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Jeevantha Kulatunga

Zimbabwe (1) :Vusi Sibanda

West Indies (8);Sylvester Joseph, Darren Sammy, Andre Fletcher, Kieron Pollard, Kieran Powell, Fidel Edwards, Dwayne Smith, Kemar Roach

Bangladesh (12): Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Ashraful, Mashrafe Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal, Junaid Siddique, Mehrab Hossain jnr, Rajin Saleh, Ziaur Rehman, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim, Raqibul Hasan, Nadif Chowdhury

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