London: England’s biggest stars, including Test captain Joe Root, will be in line for huge Indian Premier League windfalls next season after the England and Wales Cricket Board left open a long window for them to play in the Twenty20 league.

Root has never played in the IPL but will make a decision this year about whether to put himself forward for the auction in February when huge deals will be on offer for overseas players. Root will discuss his 2018 itinerary with the ECB after the summer ends and will have to weigh up time at home resting against cashing in on the IPL.

Previously, he has ruled out playing in India but has seen Ben Stokes, his friend and vice-captain, take the tournament by storm and heard him speak glowingly of the experience. It would not be a surprise if Root decided it was his turn.

The ECB announced the schedule for the 2018 summer on Tuesday, confirming the first Test would be against Pakistan, starting on May 28. With England’s tour to New Zealand ending on April 3, the players will be available for the majority of the IPL season, making them much more attractive for franchise owners and far likelier to land million-dollar deals in the next auction.

The IPL this week announced a new television deal worth nearly pounds two billion, a five-fold increase on the previous contract. With the IPL franchises no longer paying an annual fee to the Indian board, they will have more money to spend. Two teams, the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, will rejoin the IPL in 2018 after two-year suspensions linked to a fixing scandal, adding extra competition.

By opening up the availability of England’s players, the ECB have put themselves in a position to hammer out a reciprocal agreement with their Indain counterparts that could see some of their star names, such as Virat Kohli, play in the first season of England’s new Twenty20 competition in 2020.

Andrew Strauss, the England team director, has actively encouraged his players to go to the IPL as he wants them to gain white-ball experience ahead of England’s World Cup bid in 2019 and, after Stokes’s starring role, the valuation of England players has gone up.

One player not interested in playing in the IPL is James Anderson who, at 35, knows his time has gone in terms of mega-rich Twenty20 deals in India. Instead, he understands why the younger generation might put T20 ahead of Test cricket. “It makes complete sense why guys would want to do it,” said Anderson. “But I like to think that in county cricket the majority have the ambition to play Test cricket and it is nice to see someone like Jos [Buttler], who could easily decide not to play four-day cricket but wants to play Test cricket. As long as guys like that are leading the way, then Test cricket is still important.”

Anderson will join the greatest names in world cricket this week if he takes his 500th Test wicket against West Indies at Lord’s to cap a fine summer. He believes he is bowling close to his best at the age of 35 as England prepare for an unexpected series decider in the third Investec Test, starting on Thursday.

— The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2017