Sri Lankan cricket was in turmoil last night amid reports that the country’s tour to England next summer is about to be called off and that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has backed out of a multimillion-pound deal to bankroll its neighbour.

Cricinfo, the cricket news website, reported yesterday that the ECB and Sri Lanka Cricket have agreed to cancel Sri Lanka’s tour next summer, with West Indies the likely replacements. A visit by Sri Lanka was arranged last July to replace Zimbabwe, the originally scheduled opponents for the first part of next summer, after the British Government ordered the ECB to cancel their visit.

Since then, however, Sri Lanka’s plans have been thrown into disarray by their Government. The Sri Lankan sports ministry has been seeking a payment of $70 million (about £40 million) from the BCCI in exchange for the country’s wholehearted support for the Indian Premier League (IPL).

About 13 Sri Lanka cricketers are due to compete in the IPL, which will run from mid-April to the end of May. Since Sri Lanka’s two Tests in England were due to be played in May — and because there would be no commercial interest for the ECB in hosting a second-string Sri Lanka side — much depends on how committed leading players such as Kumar Sangakkara and Muttiah Muralitharan are to the IPL.

The Times was told last night that the BCCI has decided not to go ahead with the payment to Sri Lanka, in part because of political posturing by Arjuna Ranatunga, the chairman of the Sri Lanka Cricket committee, who has told the players that Test matches must have primacy. However, the tour to England may still not happen because the IPL believes that it is capable of attracting the leading Sri Lanka players for the duration of its tournament.

The ECB said last night that it had received no notification from Sri Lanka, who are due to visit England in 2011 regardless under the Future Tours Programme, that the tour was off. “The situation has not changed,” an official said.

The ICC, for its part, has insisted that international cricket takes priority over the IPL.

Mushtaq Ahmed is to join England as a spin-bowling consultant, the ECB announced yesterday. The 38-year-old former Sussex and Pakistan leg spinner will start work next month in a part-time capacity that will involve working at all levels of the England set-up.

Mushtaq, who retired this season because of persistent knee problems, will work for the ECB for 100 days a year and will be based primarily at the National Performance Centre in Loughborough, although he will fly to India at the end of November to work with the England Performance Programme (EPP) side on their month-long tour.

The ECB has also signed Waqar Younis, Mushtaq’s former Pakistan team-mate, to work with the academy as a fast-bowling coach on the tour. David Parsons, the ECB performance director, said: “We are very excited that a bowler of Mushtaq’s standing within the game has decided to join our team of specialist coaches. He will have a role to play at all levels of the game. His primary task will be to mentor our leading spin bowlers in the Test, one-day and performance squads, but we also believe he can help encourage youngsters at the grass roots of the game.”

Parsons added that Peter Moores, the England head coach, had fully supported the decision to sign Mushtaq, whom he had coached at Sussex. “Pete and Mushy know each other really well, there is a lot of mutual respect,” Parsons said.

There are no plans for Mushtaq to work with the senior England bowlers on the tour to India, although there would be an opportunity when the EPP side arrive in Bangalore at the same time that England are there for a one-day international.

It is understood that Mushtaq will have to sever his connections with the unauthorised Indian Cricket League (ICL) as a condition of his employment with the ECB. He is a member of Lahore Badshahs, who were beaten finalists in the ICL this year, but has not played for them in the tournament that is under way.

Middlesex Crusaders have been drawn alongside Victoria Bushrangers, of Australia, Pretoria Titans, of South Africa, and Chennai Super Kings, of India, in group A of the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 tournament. The competition will be played in India from December 3 to 10.