Pietersen close to 2m India deal as England skittle over Kiwis

Kevin Pietersen is a step closer to collecting the £2million contract on offer to play in the 2009 Indian Premier League. Pietersen, who helped England to the brink of victory in the third Test last night, will benefit from a new spirit of co-operation between ECB chairman Giles Clarke and the IPL which was confirmed by the creation of a £2.5m Twenty20 Champions League yesterday.

Clarke has made no secret of his distaste for the idea of England stars taking part in the IPL, though the board insist no actual ban has ever been in place.

Early blow: England's Stuart Broad celebrates the wicket of Ross Taylor

His efforts to provide lucrative alternatives led to a five-year deal with Texan billionaire Sir Allen Stanford over a series of one-off matches in Antigua, with Stanford’s concept of winner-takes-all encouraging division within the England camp.

But yesterday, a meeting at Lord’s between Clarke and Modi, the vice-president of the Indian Board and driving force behind the IPL, and members of Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa, produced a deal that indicates a change in attitude which may allow England’s stars to play in India.

Hands on: Sidebottom is congratulated after bowling New Zealand's How, caught by Cooke

When the domestic Twenty20 begins this week — unusually  teams in a 10-day period in late September and early October, probably in Dubai.

They will join the IPL’s Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings, the Titans and KwaZulu Natal Dolphins from South Africa and Western Australian and Victoria from Australia. "The prize money for the winners has been set at $5m, with significant sums for the teams finishing second, third and fourth," said the ECB.

With huge offers on the table for Pietersen and others from next season, Clarke had been told that he must also relax the ECB’s position or risk alienating their star players. Clarke is also planning a response to the success of the IPL by changing the structure of the English domestic season.

On top: England's Kevin Pietersen

TV and  radio broadcasters interested in bidding for the broadcast rights to cover cricket in England from 2010 have already been provided with a provisional schedule of Test, Twenty20, one-day international and domestic cricket for that season.

The tender document is believed to show the scrapping of the Pro-40 one-day competition and the staging of an English Premier League over four to five weeks from the end of May.

Broadcasters like Sky, whose current £220m dealexpires at the end of next summer, the BBC, Five and Setanta need to know what they are bidding for and sponsors such as npower and Vodafone want to know who will be broadcasting what before deciding whether they wish to continue.