Yorkshire face personnel crisis after six players enter IPL auction

Yorkshire are facing a potential personnel crisis over the first two months of the County Championship season after six of the county's players nominated themselves for the 2011 Indian Premier League auction. The captain, Andrew Gale, Ajmal Shahzad, Tim Bresnan, Anthony McGrath, Adam Lyth and Ryan Sidebottom have made themselves available to the highest bidder at the two-day event on 8 and 9 January. The IPL season runs from 8 April to 22 May next year and if any were engaged by a successful team heading for the final, they could miss six Division One fixtures and four Clydesdale Bank 40 matches. Lancashire are also in a tricky position with four players up for grabs. James Anderson is centrally contracted and would not expect to play many games for his county but Sajid Mahmood, Tom Smith and Steven Croft are all integral members of the team. The county players who are entered for the auction are: James Anderson (Lancashire), Kevin Pietersen (Surrey), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Graeme Swann (Notts), Luke Wright (Sussex), Michael Yardy (Sussex), Steven Davies (Surrey), Simon Cook (Kent), Paul Collingwood (Durham), Owais Shah (Essex), Ravi Bopara (Essex), Matt Prior (Sussex), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire), Joe Denly (Kent), Darren Stevens (Kent), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Sajid Mahmood (Lancashire), Dimitri Mascarenhas (Hampshire), Chris Tremlett (Surrey), Graham Napier (Essex), Tom Smith (Lancashire), Monty Panesar (Sussex), Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire), Usman Afzaal (Surrey), Michael Lumb (Hampshire), Wes Durston (Derbyshire), Jack Shantry (Worcestershire), Paul Franks (Nottinghamshire), Steven Croft (Lancashire), Greg Smith (Derbyshire), Ajmal Shahzad, Tim Bresnan, Andrew Gale, Anthony McGrath, Adam Lyth, Ryan Sidebottom (all Yorkshire).