IPL cricket league snubs England for South Africa

The decision by the Indian Premier League (IPL) to relocate its tournament this year to South Africa after the Indian government declared that it was unable to guarantee security during the month-long event due to a clash with the country's general election is a considerable coup for the African nation.

IPL chairman Lalit Modi and his counterpart from Cricket South Africa, Gerald Majola, confirmed the decision to move the tournament at a press conference in South Africa this afternoon. Matches will be held between April 17 and May 24, and will take place at six venues in South Africa: Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London.

England had been also been considered as a potential venue for the IPL, and made the initial running in the race to host it, but concerns over the climate in the country in April and a clash with the London Marathon meant that South Africa triumphed in the end.

The tournament will give the country a considerable - and quite unexpected - financial boost, as the IPL jamboree will bring thousands of players, team officials and spectators to South Africa for more than a month. There will also be allied revenues from tourism and TV deals to cover the matches.

It will also provide the country with a perfect dry-run for next year's football World Cup, as the infrastructure being put in place for the 2010 event will be thoroughly tested and flaws in it made apparent during the IPL can be rectified in time for next year.

It marks a considerable turnaround for the fortunes of South African sports administration, as up until very recently many people had been worried that high levels of violent crime and a general lack of preparations for the 2010 World Cup could even lead to the tournament being moved from the country. The IPL's vote of confidence should put those rumours firmly to bed.

The relocation of the tournament now leaves the Subcontinent, the engine room of world cricket, sadly bereft of any major cricketing events. The targeting of Sri Lanka's cricket team earlier this month in Pakistan, which led to the cancellation of foreign tours there, allied to continuing political tensions in Sri Lanka means Asian cricket fans will be wistfully watching events unfolding on cricket pitches far away from home.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYINGPatrick Kidd, Times: As English cricket supporters know, the weather can be unpredictable in April and South Africa has about a third as many days of heavy rain during the month as well as longer hours of daylight. It is also believed that heavy lobbying from the South African Government and cricket authorities had swung [Lalit] Modi's opinion behind South Africa, despite the eight IPL team owners initially preferring England because of its stadiums, Asian support and short distances between cities.

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