Luke Wright looking at short and sweet success

While international commitments mean many of England’s Test players spend only limited time in T20 franchise tournaments, Wright is carving out a niche as one of the most valuable English cricketers in the shortest form.

He will join Pune Warriors for the Indian Premier League, which starts next week, and has already played in Australia’s Big Bash — where his 117 for Melbourne Stars last year was a record — and Bangladesh’s Premier League.

Thanks to his displays, and the work of his agent, Oliver Ward, there have also been offers from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa.

Wright does not hold a central contract with the England and Wales Cricket Board, meaning he has more freedom of movement than those who do. His ambition is to become a star for England in 50-over and T20 cricket but it is easy to imagine his colleagues taking an interest in the opportunities available to the 28-year-old all-rounder.

“Everyone wants to play for England as much as possible but they also want to play in the IPL,” Wright told Standard Sport. “There are huge opportunities for both cricket and financial gain.

“Maybe there will be a compromise in the future and they will look to schedule Tests differently to allow the England players to be free for more of the IPL.

“Guys don’t want to seem ungrateful to be centrally contracted and England will always be the priority but they want a chance to play a bit of both, as players from other countries can.

“Perhaps Tests at the start of the English summer can be scheduled for late May or early June, so England Test players can be involved in the IPL a bit more. Someone like Kevin Pietersen can earn huge amounts of money there and you can’t blame him for wanting to play in it, even though England is his priority.

“I’m available for the whole IPL but when there are players available only for two or three weeks, it’s no surprise that franchises spend their money on someone who will be there for the entire competition.”

A cynical view is that cricketers wish to play T20 franchise cricket solely to improve their bank balances, yet this would be harsh. Although money will always be a major consideration, Wright is convinced his globe-trotting has made him a much better limited-overs player — and his spell in last year’s IPL was far less lucrative than some might expect.

Wright did not play a single match for Pune last term. His failure to appear, plus his absence from India after contracting dengue fever, actually cost him money. Yet Wright will be back at Pune when the sixth edition of the IPL begins, and he already has an eye on the World Twenty20, which takes place in Bangladesh next year. “Even just in the nets, I felt I improved a lot,” he insisted.

The number of offers means Wright could be a freelance if he chose, spending short stints with franchises around the world. Yet his desire to represent his country in the limited-overs game means this is not an option right now.

“There will be more freelance players in the future, especially if there are competitions happening around the English summer but I want to play in Twenty20s and one-day internationals for England,” said Wright. “You hope that young cricketers will always have a huge desire to play Tests but for others, when it doesn’t work out, I could see the freelance decision happening if the availability was there.”

Four years ago, Wright was close to forcing his way into the England Test side. His career has, however, changed direction since then and he knows that boat may have sailed. “I’ve had to work at the forms where I was playing for England and things have naturally gone that way,” he explained.

“My focus naturally shifted. When I played in the Big Bash in 2012, it went better than I could have dreamed of and after that, I was suddenly getting offers to play in every competition.”