Graeme Swann, Tim Bresnan and Jonathan Trott, who, along with Morgan were members of the team who won the recent one-day series in South Africa, found it was not a seller’s market for England players.
Even the name of Swann, who was recently ranked the world’s third best Test bowler, was greeted with silence and palms firmly planted on desks at the New Trident Hotel.
It appears the choice is becoming clearer with every slam of the auctioneer’s hammer. As far as England’s players are concerned the future now looks to be a decision between Test cricket and the IPL.
If anything is to be gleaned from the events of the past 48 hours in Mumbai then combining the two is becoming impossible, even for some of the greats of the game.
First, on Monday evening, Ricky Ponting was bought out of his Kolkata Knight Riders contract because he was unavailable for eight to 10 matches of the next IPL because of Australia’s tour to New Zealand.
And then on Tuesday Morgan was the only successful player from England.
“Yes, availability is a serious issue with all teams without doubt,” said Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner.
“Based on that the teams have formed strategies. Eoin Morgan was not available 100 per cent of the time earlier but, before the auction, he was released for the full time by the ECB and hence he was bought.”
Never can a trip to Bangladesh have potentially cost so much. The two-Test series, which starts on March 12, the same day as the IPL, cuts down Swann and Trott’s availability to just over three weeks.
Twelve months ago that was enough for Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff to become the highest-paid IPL players. Not this time.
As the International Cricket Council refuses to create an official IPL window, the franchise owners are making one for themselves by simply turning to players who can commit. England’s players must hope the calendar is changed. March and April are usually spent on the road.
The big deals went to Kieron Pollard, a West Indies allrounder, who signed for Mumbai, and Shane Bond, the New Zealand fast bowler, who has joined Calcutta. Pollard is a Twenty20 specialist, while Bond, 34, has recently retired from Test cricket.
Many felt Morgan, with his mixture of paddles and sweeps, would fetch more than the $220,000 (£135,000).
Bangalore paid to add him to a squad containing Pietersen, and it appears Mark Ramprakash priced himself out of the market with a reserve value of $200,000 (£122,000).
A lower price would have brought him an offer from Rajasthan Royals and once a player has one bidder there is always a chance of competition in the auction room boosting the deal.
Morgan will join up with Bangalore after the one-day series ends in Bangladesh on March 5 and will stay until the final on April 25, if Bangalore qualify. That means he will miss the first few days of England’s World Twenty20 preparation in the West Indies.
Pollard, 22, hits the ball a long way but has a poor international record. However, it is performances on Indian stages that count in the IPL. He was a sensation at last year’s Champions League with 14 sixes, including five in one 18-ball half-century for Trinidad against New South Wales.
He has deals with South Australia, who he has helped to their Twenty20 final, as well as Somerset, who shrewdly moved after glimpsing him at close quarters in the Champions League. That is four contracts on four continents. He was available at last year’s auction for $60,000 (£37,000) and no one bid for him – now he is perhaps the epitome of the emerging player.
Englishmen were not the only ones to miss out. The Test tour to New Zealand ruled out Brad Haddin and Phil Hughes surprisingly failed to find a buyer.
Damien Martyn, who has not played professionally for three years, can no doubt thank his old team-mate Shane Warne for a deal at Rajasthan Royals, where Warne is captain and coach.
At times proceedings were confused and the press conference was frantic, even by Indian standards. Pollard and Bond were both sold after a silent auction was used to decide the outcome after more than one franchise bid the maximum of $750,000 (£460,000) for each player.
Teams had to write down how much more they were willing to pay. The difference between the $750,000 and this new total was paid to the IPL. It is thought they earned $3 million on Tuesday. A lot more than any English cricketer.
Players sold:
Kieron Pollard $750k Mumbai
Kemar Roache $720k Deccan
Shane Bond $750k Calcutta
Damien Martyn $100k Rajasthan
Adam Voges $50k Rajasthan
Justin Kemp $100k Chennai
Wayne Parnell $610k Delhi
Mohammad Kaif $250k Kings XI Punjab
Yusuf Abdullah $50k
Thissara Perera $100k
Eoin Morgan $220k Bangalore
Source:telegraph.co.uk/
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