Indian Premier League (IPL) money scored a significant victory over Test-match tradition last night when Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) agreed to let their players compete in the lucrative tournament next year instead of meeting a new commitment to tour England. Duleep Mendis, the SLC chief executive, will tell the ECB today that his country will send a second-string team for the two Test matches in May, unless dates agreed last week can be rearranged. Players such as Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena would join for the one-day leg of the tour.

Leading England players, including Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, the highest-profile targets of IPL franchises, may consider an opportunity to extend their stays in India beyond the ten days being mooted if the Sri Lanka Tests become devalued by the absence of the star names.

The ECB, having confirmed the replacements for Zimbabwe only four days ago, will hope that Sri Lanka can find a compromise along the lines of New Zealand Cricket earlier in the year, when Daniel Vettori and others arrived after their colleagues but in time for the first Test, which is scheduled to start on May 7 next year. But that may not appease the Sri Lankans after their board acknowledged an earlier promise that players would be able to participate in the whole of the IPL next year — when it runs from April 10 to May 29 — and in 2010. In return, players had agreed to make a priority of the tour to England in May 2011.

Haroon Lorgat, the new ICC chief executive, believes that creating an IPL window in the international calendar is an issue that will continue to be discussed as a long-term solution. However, as dates stand, that will jeopardise the increasingly early starts to England summers.

Lorgat, who was at Lord’s for the first npower Test between England and South Africa yesterday, said: “The root of this issue is the sums of money involved. It is far more attractive financially to play in the IPL and I know that the Sri Lanka players are not keen to come to England at the time they are playing in the IPL.

“This a huge challenge. If we do not manage this situation we could be threatening the lifeblood of all member countries. International cricket generates revenue that is essential to the survival of all our members. We will have to be robust enough to manage these situations.”

Contracts were signed last week between the ECB, Mendis and Arjuna Ranatunga, the SLC chairman. The Tests and one-day matches have since been registered as part of the ICC Future Tours Programme, but the extra commitments angered players who were embroiled in disputes over contracts. They aired grievances verbally and then in writing to Mahinda Rajapakse, the country’s President, at a tea party in Colombo on Wednesday to celebrate victory at the Asia Cup in Pakistan. Rajapakse immediately instructed Gamini Lokuge, the Sports Minister, to resolve the problem.

Graeme Labrooy, the chief negotiator for the Sri Lanka Cricketers’ Association, said: “I do not think there will be a doubt about the tour because we can always field a side from Sri Lanka and I am sure it can be a good side. We hope to get some sort of compromise and take it forward.”

There is a danger that some of the poorer boards — SLC is in debt to an estimated $6 million (about £3 million) — will view IPL money as an expedient for keeping down players’ match fees and Lorgat appealed to all parties, including boards and players, to exercise responsibility at “this time of enormous opportunity”.

He said: “There is no doubt that there are inherent conflicts in the situation. To satisfy players financially by relying on their payments from the IPL is not sustainable. Players have short careers and they want immediate rewards, but we have to educate them about the development of the game.”