LONDON, Nov 16: The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Indian Premier League (IPL) have failed to reach an understanding over the release of England players for the 2009 edition of the league.

Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, and chief executive David Collier were in Mumbai for a two-day meeting with Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman. The two sides have agreed to meet again in the coming weeks.

The two sides were to negotiate on a reciprocal agreement, with the ECB pushing for having Indian players in the English Premier League, slated to kick off in 2010, in return for their contracted players taking part in the Indian league.

The Press Association reported the participation of English teams in the Champions Twenty20 League was also discussed. Middlesex, the domestic Twenty20 champions, will play in the inaugural tournament in India next month, but Kent, originally slated to take part by finishing second, were barred because they fielded players contracted to the ICL.

The England players have not yet signed their central contracts for the year, with the players’ association keen on clarifying the position on the IPL.

“The guys are keen to get the central contracts signed and we are 99 per cent of the way there,” Sean Morris, the Professional Cricketers’ Association chief executive, had told BBC Sport.

“The Stanford and IPL windows are new things that have never been there before, it’s a new workload. We don’t know what the calendar is going to be for next year and are waiting to be told.

“Until then, we don’t know what the guys are committing to in signing the contracts and we need that to be clarified. The players themselves are pretty comfortable about the situation.”

The IPL player auction is set for January 2009, but Modi wants the players to be available for a majority of the matches.

—Agencies