TRP battle in Australia: WI Tests take on IPL

Melbourne: Australian Cricketers' Association chief Paul Marsh was surprised by the huge success of Indian Premier League but feels that the impact of the lucrative Twenty20 tournament on cricket fans Down under will only be known when Australia's Test series against West Indies begins on May 22.

Marsh, who had a first hand experience of the IPL when he was in India during the initial phase of the tournament, said he would monitor how the Australians choose between their Test team's series against the West Indies and the IPL by taking note of television ratings.

The first two-and-a-half Tests of the series will overlap with the final stages of the IPL, which is being shown on free-to-air in Australia and in a similar time slot.

"International cricket is a very rapidly changing environment at the moment and we wouldn't be doing our job if we weren't monitoring it. The time slots will have some crossover, so I'm sure it will tell us some sort of a story," Marsh said.

From an Australian perspective, with our top players in the West Indies, we'd expect people would be more interested in the West Indies tour than the IPL. I would think that our fans will go wherever our top players are and that's going to be the West Indies.

"If it worked any other way it would be very interesting outcome. It would tell a story about how well the IPL is going," he was quoted as saying by Sydney Morning Herald.

Marsh talked highly of IPL, saying it was not just about entertainment, but it had quickly gained a parochial aspect and had proved a skilled game.

"The IPL's been fantastic, better than I expected. It really has gripped the nation (India). The cricket's been good and the Indians have been pretty clever by limiting the number of international players so they can give a chance to their younger guys to play with the top cricketers. I think that's going to improve cricket over there," the ACA boss said.

"It's not just about dancing girls and crash and bash. It's become a serious competition over there. There's a great affinity the fans have built up with their local sides. That really surprised me.

"Every ground I went to, the ground was pretty much full, the atmosphere was awesome and the players from all countries were mixing with each other. Every single one of our players who were there have told me they really enjoyed it," he said.

Marsh reiterated his view that an international window should be created for IPL and said the ACA would commission studies into how the new tournament would affect the players' welfare and time management.

"We want to mostly see how this can fit into the cricket calendar. We've said that there needs to be a window for the IPL. If you have a proper window, players can make the choice about whether they do or they don't play. If they don't they'll get a few weeks off. Depending on what type of player it is, they might want that."