English weather not ideal for preparing T20 wickets: Atkinson

Though Indian Premier League chief Lalit Modi left for Johannesburg early this morning amid much speculation about the venue for the second season, he had almost ruled out England as a venue.

"We will be looking at weather conditions," he said before he left, hinting that rains in the United Kingdom could be as big a problem as the general elections in India.u00a0

And almost ruling out chances of an English season for the IPL was Andy Atkinson, the International Cricket Council's pitch director, who said the bleak weather conditions in the UK offer a rather poor backdrop for the tournament.

"I would say preparing ground for the IPL matches (if they are held in England) is not an impossible task, but it is certainly a difficult task," Atkinson said.

"The weather is the biggest hindrance. We have had a particularly severe winter this year and it has rained a lot. Add to it the weather forecast, which suggests that there could be rains for at least the next four weeks.

Obviously, we can't do much but wait for the weather to improve."

What's worse according to Atkinson is "pretty moist" wickets in England. "And because the temperatures are hovering around the 9 degree Celsius mark, they won't dry. We need the temperature to come close to 35 degree Celsius."

That means the huge scores and swashbuckling hits out of the ground that punctuated IPL's Season One would be missing this time around, if UK plays host to the tournament.u00a0

"Wet, green top wickets will obviously aid the bowlers a fair bit. Sure, shot-making will be extremely difficult. Getting big scores is certainly out," Atkinson said.

This effectively means that if Modi's "meeting with CSA and government officials" in Johannesburg today turns out to be fruitful, then the IPL chief's trip to London from thereon might turn out to be a mere formality.