Ali Brown turns down IPL

Alistair Brown, the Surrey and former England batsman, has rejected an offer to join the Mumbai IPL franchise.

Brown was contacted by Harbhajan Singh, who has spent time as Surrey's overseas player, and asked whether he would be interested in signing up but declined after decided to keep to his new one-year county deal.

"He was very flattered to receive the offer to play among some of the world's leading cricketers," a Surrey spokesman told Cricinfo, "but he has decided to honour his Surrey deal."

Brown played 16 ODIs for England between 1996 and 2001 with the disappointing return of 354 runs at 22.12. His one century came against India, at Old Trafford, in 1996 but his results in domestic cricket put him up with the most successful one-day players. He has over 10,000 runs a high score of 268 against Glamorgan in 2002.

The Mumbai team also includes Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya and Shaun Pollock. No English players have been signed up for the opening year of the IPL although it is believed a number have been approached like Brown or players' agents have been in touch with IPL organisers.

Surrey are still waiting for confirmation from the ECB surrounding the status of Saqlain Mushtaq who is part of the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL). The club says that the "complex and unique situation" is taking a while to resolve but they are being led by the ECB.

It is unclear whether Saqlain, who is now England qualified, requires the No Obligation Certificate (NOC) from his home board before be can play for Surrey.