It has been recently learnt that 10% of the Indian Premier League earnings of England stars Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff would be donated to their respective counties Hampshire and Lancashire.

The agreement was arrived when the two players were permitted a three-week window for this year's IPL, which means they will miss the start of the county season.

Sean Morris, the chief executive of the Professional Cricketers' Association reported, "It's something the players are supportive of. One game's absence could net a county a fair bit of money, so commercially it makes sense. The counties would probably prefer it that way round than having a player for one game that he might not have played in anyway."

Following the consultation between the PCA, Hugh Morris and John Carr of the England and Wales Cricket Board, and Rod Bransgrove, the chairman of Hampshire, and his Lancashire counterpart, Michael Cairns, the figure of 10 per cent was reached at.

Incase Pietersen is able to make as much as USD 1.5 million at the players auction in Goa on 6th February, his county would earn USD 62,766 via his pro-rata salary of almost USD 650,000 for three weeks' work. Pietersen has been learnt of being courted by Bangalore Royal Challengers.

Bransgrove said, "It's a sensible and adult arrangement. Hopefully it's given everyone what they wanted."

Morris said, "It doesn't make sense to have conflicting games between international cricket and the IPL, so we could reach the stage where England players are available for the whole tournament."