IANS

London, Apr 22: Officials of the Indian Premier League (IPL) have offered to stage the grand finale of the multimillion-dollar championship this September at Lord's, the Mecca of cricket, according to a report Monday.

The week-long finale would feature the top two teams from the IPL and the leading sides from the domestic Twenty20 leagues in England, Australia, South Africa and Pakistan, the Daily Telegraph reported.

The report, written by ex-England cricketer Simon Hughes, said Dubai had been earmarked for the event, but the ground was unlikely to be ready in time.

However, there are said to be scheduling difficulties for such a grand event to be staged at Lord's.

The paper said it would be hard to find a whole week in September to stage the finale. While the ideal time would be straight after England's final one-day international against South Africa Sep 3, the ICC championship in Pakistan begins just a week later.

There is a free period in October, but England has never hosted a top-class tournament so late in the year.

However, the paper said the finale could still happen because whittling the teams down to one winner could be achieved in five days in the Twenty20 format.

It said the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) would prefer to wait and see the Indian public and business community's response to the IPL before they take the discussions further.

England fast bowler Matthew Hoggard recently said he had little doubt that England players would opt for the IPL if asked to choose between the Indian league and the ICC Champions Trophy.

Simon Hughes described the ICC championship as representing "one of world sport's most pointless and derided events".