London, Jan. 21: If former England fast bowler Derek Pringle is to be believed, current skipper Andrew Strauss has placed his trust in his players to decide how they will go forward on the issue of making themselves available for the Indian Premier League (IPL) in its second season.

"I want to see players who are able to think on their feet out in the middle, take responsibility for the situation, and don''t leave it for someone else. The only way we can do that is by giving them responsibility off the pitch as well. I am looking for my players to start thinking about what they need to do in terms of preparation," Pringle quotes Strauss as saying.

In his article for the Telegraph, Pringle says Strauss has made a shrewd start as England captain, by asking his players to express self-determination, while at the same time nudging the England and Wales Cricket Board towards a conciliatory direction.

"Players have to be fully prepared for a Test match but what that preparation is depends on the player to a certain extent. In keeping with my philosophy, I''m quite happy to say to my players, ''This is what I need preparation-wise''. I believe the players who will be involved in the IPL are experienced campaigners. They didn''t just turn up yesterday. They know what Test cricket is about and know what preparation they need. Whatever time they have before the Test match I''m sure they''ll use it wisely," Straus said.

It will still require some back-tracking from Lalit Modi, the chief commissioner of the IPL, who needs to relax his stipulation of four weeks'' participation, but at least Strauss has paved the way for Pietersen, Flintoff and, perhaps, Paul Collingwood and Stuart Broad, to play for three weeks in the IPL.

Only last week the managing director of the England team, Hugh Morris, had decided that Test players could have only a fortnight, but he will not want to enforce that after the Strauss''s bold message, says Pringle.

"The coaches will play more of an advisory role," confirmed Strauss.

"It''s vitally important that players are challenged to think for themselves. The more we do that, the more we will find out in the middle people will do the right things. The coaches are very happy about that and it''s a way they are very comfortable with operating anyway," he added. (ANI)