England's Test cricketers will not be allowed to skip the longer format to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL), says director of England cricket Andrew Strauss, retracting from his statement on Friday in which he said the move was necessary to build a better ODI side.

On Thursday, Strauss cleared the way for English players to take part in the IPL at the expense of Test cricket, terming the move a “hard decision” which would keep players fresh while also giving them the maximum experience of limited overs cricket.

The former England captain, however, moved quickly to clarify himself and said under no circumstances would the Test team be weakened.

“I can’t foresee any circumstances in which we would weaken our Test team in order to allow an England player to play in the IPL or any other franchise-based competition,” Strauss, who was in the UAE for the Pakistan-England series, was quoted as saying by the Telegraph on Friday.

“This is about striking the right balance in the long-term between red-ball and white-ball cricket, and giving players greater opportunities to improve in both formats,” he added.

England are currently ranked 6th in ODIs and 8th in T20s. Their only limited overs title to date came in the shortest format when they beat Australia in the 2010 World T20 final in the West Indies.