Because the inaugural IPL season coincided with the County Championship season as well as New Zealand's tour of England, the ECB and county cricket clubs raised their concerns to the BCCI over players. The ECB made it abundantly clear that they would not sign No Objection Certificates for players—a prerequisite for playing in the IPL. Chairmen of the county clubs also made it clear that players contracted to them were required to fulfill their commitment to their county. As a result of this, Dimitri Mascarenhas was the only English player to have signed with the IPL for the 2008 season.
A result of the ECB’s concerns about players joining the IPL, was a proposed radical response of creating their own Twenty20 tournament that would be similar in structure to the IPL. The league — titled the English Premier League — would feature 21 teams in three groups of seven and would occur towards the end of the summer season.The ECB enlisted the aid of Texas billionaire Allen Stanford to launch the proposed league.Stanford was the brains behind the successful Stanford 20/20, a tournament that has run twice in the West Indies. On February 17, 2009, when news of the fraud investigation against Stanford became public, the ECB and WICB withdrew from talks with Stanford on sponsorship.On February 20 the ECB announced it has severed its ties with Stanford and cancelled all contracts with him.