Burns, Morgan go separate ways in IPL tug-of-war

Australian Test batsman Joe Burns and England ODI skipper Eoin Morgan have taken contrasting approaches to the 2015 Ashes series, with Morgan conceding he has "scaled down" his ambition to return to England's Test side.

A day after Morgan confirmed he would enter the Indian Premier League auction this year – which all but rules him out of the Ashes in July and August this year - Burns has revealed he will reject the big money on offer in India as he bids to secure his spot in Australia's Test team. 

Burns played the final two matches of the Commonwealth Bank Test series against India this summer, posting twin half-centuries in the fourth Test in Sydney to put himself in a good position to be retained for Australia's next Test assignment; a two-match series in the West Indies in June.

Solid performances in the Caribbean would put the Queenslander firmly in the frame for the Ashes, and he says the challenge of a maiden IPL campaign in April and May would be an unwanted distraction ahead of the winter Tests.

"Test cricket is my priority and I am not too keen to go to the IPL," Burns told News Ltd.

"If I had nominated for the IPL and got picked up by a franchise, it would have been my first time going over there.

"But trying to learn to play T20 cricket in Indian conditions is very different to what I want to be doing after that.

"I want to get as much first-class cricket as I can under my belt. I enjoy playing the longer form of the game and I want to try to make myself as good as I can at long-form cricket. My main aim is to play as much Test cricket as possible."

While Burns is focused intently on red-ball cricket, Morgan has put his Test career firmly on the backburner.

The left-hander is a regular in England's limited overs sides – he’s played 110 out of England's 128 ODIs since his debut in 2009 – but the most recent of his 16 Tests was almost three years ago.

The 28-year-old spurned the IPL last year to focus on first-class cricket in the hope that he could force his way back into a Test side that had been fractured by the 5-0 Ashes whitewash in Australia and the departure of Kevin Pietersen.

But his bid for a Test recall was unsuccessful; he scored two hundreds in 11 first-class matches for his county Middlesex as Sam Robson, Gary Ballance and Moeen Ali were chosen ahead of him for England's Tests against Sri Lanka and India.

Morgan has made no apologies for altering his approach this year, and says putting his Test hopes on hold - at least temporarily - is a sacrifice he has had to make to pursue his interests in the IPL.

"I think (my Test ambitions) have been scaled down a bit probably since the start of our summer,” Morgan said in Perth on Thursday.

"I suppose the opportunity I gave myself in missing the IPL last year and potential carrot of the end of the road was, I think, three positions available at the start of our summer, and I didn’t manage to get any of them.

"So since then it has been scaled down a bit.

"The ambition still is to play Test cricket, absolutely, but given where I’m at the moment, I think the IPL is the best thing for me."

Morgan is to no stranger to Twenty20 franchise cricket; he has had four campaigns in the IPL – one with Royal Challengers Bangalore and three with Kolkata Knight Riders – and has played for Sydney Thunder in the past two seasons of the KFC T20 Big Bash League.

And he has echoed the sentiments of Australia batsman Steve Smith and Pietersen, who this week both spruiked the value of the IPL and other Twenty20 leagues around the world.

Quick Single: Pietersen wants England to replicate BBL

Smith, who has played for four IPL franchises since 2009, says he’s benefitted greatly from his time in India where he was regularly exposed to high pressure cricket against top quality opposition.

"I have to pay a lot of credit to the IPL for where I am today, particularly in one-day cricket," Smith said, after sweeping the Allan Border Medal awards ceremony in Sydney on Tuesday night.

"Playing in that tournament you learn a lot about yourself because you're playing every second day.

"You get faced with a lot of similar situations and if you don't quite get the team over the line one game you learn and face the same situation a couple of days later.

"I think it's a great learning experience for any young cricketer."

Morgan agreed, and urged his countrymen to buck the trend of most English cricketers by embarking on a T20 adventure in a foreign country. 

“I think it’s nice to have one ear to the ground, both playing Big Bash and potential IPL,” he said.

"It’s very useful because again, cricket is changing so much at the moment, it’s nice to have new fresh ideas.

"And again, opportunity not only for myself but for other English cricketers to go and play, I think they should take it with both hands.

"It’s a great experience, and like the Big Bash it’s a huge opportunity to put yourself under pressure and bridge that gap between our domestic game at home and the international game."