Ben on...the life blood

Following up on Mike's post about the future of test cricket under the lordship of the BCCI, this article from the Times of India details some of the statements made by the ICC about the IPL after the meeting of the executive board:

• The IPL is now a sanctioned tournament, while the ICL is not. (Previously, neither were officially sanctioned, which made the enthusiasm for one and fear of the other rather unbalanced, or even hypocritical.)
• "The concept of nation-versus-nation cricket was the life blood of members and this must always be given the highest possible priority." International cricket will have precedence over the IPL.
• The BCCI will give the members the right to command that any of their players should not be selected for the IPL up until two years after a players retirement.
• There is no consideration being given to altering the FTP to accommodate the IPL (but only because no one has asked).