LONDON, Feb 14: England wicketkeeper Matt Prior warned on Thursday of the prospect of rows between players and administrators unless the England and Wales Cricket Board softened its stance towards the Indian Premier League.

“I know for a fact that players want to play in the IPL — you can't get away from the fact that there is an enormous amount of money at stake,” the 30-year-old Prior told BBC Sport.

“I'm employed by the ECB, so I do what the ECB says right now.

“If that's when the Test matches are, then that's when the Test matches are. My priority is playing Test cricket for England and when I am needed to play Test cricket for England I will play,” the Sussex wicket-keeper added.

“The one thing, however, is that the IPL and these Twenty20 competitions are not going away.

“People love them and the players enjoy playing in them, so there are going to be more and more people getting frustrated at the lack of opportunity to play in the IPL. So things may have to change in time.”

The sixth IPL starts on April 3 and runs to May 26, a period that includes England's first Test at home to New Zealand starting on May 16.

At present, the only England players involved in the IPL are Pietersen and fellow batsman Eoin Morgan.

Prior said he feared the kudos attached to playing cricket might not always be enough to prevent players from around the world turning their back on the five-day game if the price was right.—AFP