Refusing to change his stand, Champions League commissioner Lalit Modi has given England and Wales Cricket Board one week's time to tweak its domestic schedule, failing which counties teams would miss out on a chance to play in this year's global Twenty20 event.

Champions League commissioner Lalit Modi today dismissed allegations that the England and Wales Cricket Board was not consulted before finalising the Twenty20 event's dates and asked the ECB to tweak its county schedule.

The England and Wales Cricket Board has asked the organisers of Champions League Twenty20 to rework the event's schedule as a clash of dates with the domestic season here could prevent the counties from playing in the cash-awash tournament. Champions League chairman Lalit Modi yesterday revealed that the event would be held from September 10 to 26.

England coach Andy Flower is confident of boosting their batting line-up with the return of Kevin Pietersen for the tour of South Africa in November but doubted Andrew Flintoff's comeback to the national team.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan is set to announce his retirement from senior cricket on Tuesday.

The England and Wales Cricket Board on Tuesday conceded South Africa is a more practical choice for the second edition of the Indian Premier League and wished the tournament success in the rainbow nation.

Umpiring legend Dickie Bird says that he is pained to see how money has ruined the game, the latest example of which is the mess created by England Cricket Board's now-terminated alliance with fraud-accused business tycoon Allen Stanford.

Contrary to the ECB's concerns, newly appointed England captain Andrew Strauss feels his team-mates can play in the Indian Premier League without compromising on their national duty.

Speaking for the first time after the skipper-coach feud, the England and Wales Cricket Board indicated on Wednesday that Kevin Pietersen was removed from captaincy to negate the player-power, which could have been damaging for the team management in the long term.

Kevin Pietersen has described as 'character assissination', the way media protrayed him in the last one week, when his feud with the then coach Peter Moores hit newspapers headlines.

Kevin Pietersen had first offered his resignation as captain after last month's drawn second Test against India but he was advised to sleep over it before taking a final call, disclosed England and Wales Cricket Board vice-chairman Dennis Amiss.

The turmoil in English cricket continued with Kevin Pietersen claiming that he never resigned as captain and wanted to be back at the helm as there was some "unfinished business" to take care of.

Opening batsman Andrew Strauss is set to take over as captain of the England cricket team after current skipper Kevin Pietersen and coach Peter Moores resigned from their jobs earlier in the day, leaving English cricket in an unexpected crisis.

Increasing the number to five is a result of the much closer relationship between the England and Wales Cricket Board and the Board of Control for Cricket in India following England's decision to return to play Test matches in Chennai and Mohali.

A full strength England cricket team will on Monday return to India to play Tests after getting the final go-ahead from their security experts, ending days of speculation on the fate of the series which was in doubt following the terror attacks in Mumbai.

Armed with a written undertaking from Tamil Nadu Police to provide foolproof security during the first cricket Test in Chennai, ECB Managing Director Hugh Morris will hold discussions with the English cricketers in Abu Dhabi before giving green signal to the two-match Test series against India.

A full-strength England squad leaves for Abu Dhabi on Thursday with the cricket board giving its go ahead for the two-match Test series against India which was on the verge of being cancelled following the Mumbai terror attacks.

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Giles Clarke has indicated that Kevin Pietersen and his men will be back in India for next week's Test series, insisting he would not let terrorists dictate cricket.

England and Wales Cricket Board's security adviser Reg Dickason on Wednesday virtually gave the green signal to Chennai as the venue for the first Test between India and England, saying the organisers have addressed all his concerns.

England and Cricket Board's security expert Reg Dickason left for Chennai on Tuesday to assess the venues for the Test series against India.

After uncertainty over whether the two-Test series against England would be held in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror strikes, BCCI cleared doubts by deciding on Chennai and Mohali as the new venues.

Most of his teammates may still be undecided about their decision to tour India, but England captain Kevin Pietersen has said he would return to India for the Test series, provided security adviser Reg Dickason okays the tour.

English cricketers wanting to play in the Indian Premier League next year may be asked to give away their central contracts by an adamant ECB, which has made it clear that international engagements are top priority.

Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi has revealed that the ECB will not allow its players to participate in the cash-rich event until the IPL governing council and the BCCI agree to release 20 of their players for the English version of the twenty20 series.

As England's one-day team began preparations for a match which could net players $1 million each, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced a 150 percent increase in domestic prize money.