Or is it?

Lancashire have lost Brad Hodge for 5 weeks to the Kolkata Knight Riders. But they have managed to procure the services of Mohammad Yousuf for that period since he's not eligible to play in the Indian Premier League.

Till only last year cricketers used to jump at the opportunity to play country cricket, not only for excercising their sport during the off season but also for those extra dollars, or rather pounds to be economically correct.

Today, however, with the emergence of the IPL and top notch dollars associated with it, playing county cricket has become the 2nd best option.

Would Yousuf have been available for Lancashire had one of the francises roped him in? Obviously not.

Hodge is going to miss 5 weeks to play in the IPL. David Hussey is already missing the county season. Shane Warne announced his retirement from county cricket despite being under contract to Hampshire for another year or two.

Moreover, this doesn't apply to international players alone. England and Hampshire's own Dmitri Mascharenas has joined the Rajhastan Royals for 5 weeks giving his home county season a break.

ECB better hurry with that EPL or they may lose a lot more as I hear that next year's IPL is scheduled around the same time. Plus Peiterson and some others are itching to play for some Indian teams.

Well, at the end I guess Mohammad Yousuf will be happy to be playing a form of the game he's good at. But he'll still be rueing his chances of making those dollars in hundreds of thousands.