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The English Cricket Board (ECB) has
voiced concern over the number of injuries
sustained by players participating in the inau-
gural season of the Indian Premier League. The
ECB will investigate the possibility of Indian
franchises taking over insurance premiums on
contracted players and the medical support
available in the IPL before deciding whether it
will allow English players to participate in the
tournament next year due to its close proximity
to the Ashes series in 2009.
Matthew Hayden, Sachin Tendulkar
and Zaheer Khan each sustained injuries that
prevent their participation in upcoming com-
petitions for their national teams. Hayden
missed the whole of Australia’s tour of the West
Indies due to an Achilles tendon injury, while
Tendulkar and Khan are unavailable for In-
dia’s one-day commitments in Bangladesh and
Pakistan. Graeme Smith was due to lead South
Africa in England, but faced intensive treatment
for hamstring troubles before the first test at
Lord’s on July 10.
Reports that Tendulkar was pressured to
play for the Mumbai Indians when a nagging
groin injury had not healed have fuelled Eng-
land’s concerns. Similarly, Hayden exacerbated
his Achilles injury playing for the Chennai
Super Kings rather than resting. Both Kahn and
Smith aggravated niggling injuries through their
participation in the IPL.
Initially, Giles Clarke,
chairman of the ECB, all
but ruled out the partici-
pation of English players
in the IPL. The current
investigations indicate a
softening of this ruling,
but it is with great trepida-
tion that the ECB considers
the participation of the likes of
Kevin Pietersen.
Even if the IPL agreed to take
on insurance premiums for contracted
players like Pietersen, it would be almost impos-
sible to put a price on the value of Pietersen if he
failed to make the series against Australia.
Pietersen is adamant that he should be
allowed to play, having been offered $4 million
according to his agent, AdamWheatley. Andrew
Flintoff has also been approached to participate
in the IPL. Dimitri Mascarenhas is the only
English player to have featured in the 2008 IPL
having reached an agreement with his county,
Hampshire.
Ultimately, the decision regarding the
participation of English players in the IPL next
year will fall to Peter Moores, the head coach.
The question remains, is the newly formed
IPL good for the game of cricket?
Is the
newly formed
IPL good for
the game of
Cricket?
IPL: Big Money for
Season Ending Injuries
Canadian
Insurers
Record First
Underwriting
Loss Since
2002
from Canadian Underwriter
The Canadian insurance industry as a
whole experienced an underwriting loss in 2008
Q1, marking the rst industry-wide loss since
2002, according to the MSA/Baron
Outlook Report.
The industry’s combined ratio has crept up
past the 100% mark, from 2007 Q1’s 96.4% to
104.3% for this year’s rst quarter.
Industry premiums experienced 1.4% of
growth, from Cdn$7.33 billion, to Cdn$7.44
billion. But underwriting income plummeted
from a pro t of Cdn$289 million in 2007 Q1
to a loss of Cdn$353 million during the same
period in 2008.
Overall, the industry experienced a 25%
drop in net income in 2008 Q1 over 2007 Q1,
from Cdn$903 million to Cdn$677 million.
Commercial insurers are “beginning to pay
the piper,” the report says. Overall premium
volumes for commercial companies dropped al-
most 6% versus 2007 Q1 (Cdn $2.031 billion
in 2007 Q1 to Cdn$1.914 billion
in 2008 Q1), while the sector’s combined ratio
approached the 100-level (99.6%) for the rst
time since 2001.
The report authors note that without the
effects of discounting and fair value accounting,
the 2008 Q1 sector combined ratio would have
been 95.5%.
Meanwhile, in Canadian personal lines,
the sector’s combined ratio climbed to 106.6%
in the rst quarter over last year’s 99.6%.
Net income in the personal lines decreased
41.1% to Cdn$248 million from Cdn $422
million last year.
While Q1 results are typically worse than
Q2 or Q3, the report notes, deterioration in
Ontario auto, reserve increases due to the re-
moval of the minor injury cap in Alberta and
volatile nancial markets as culprits for the less-
than-spectacular results.
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