Despite a two-day meeting, the England players face another three weeks of uncertainty over their IPL participation.

David Collier and Giles Clarke, the chief executive and chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, return to London today having failed to reach agreement following two days of talks with Lalit Modi, the chairman of the IPL.

Modi wants England's players available for the majority of the lucrative Twenty20 tournament, which runs from April 10 to May 29, but England have a Test series starting on May 7 against Sri Lanka providing issues over their leading players' IPL commitments can also be resolved.

There were high hopes a compromise could be sought over the two days, particularly as England want the release of leading India stars for the English Premier League starting in 2010, but instead they have only agreed to return to India in two or three weeks for further discussions.

It has left England's 12 contracted players in limbo, still waiting to see whether they can cash in on the IPL riches and unwilling to sign their central contracts until the problem is resolved.

"We haven't signed our contracts yet and to be honest I don't know why we haven't - I think that's an issue between the PCA and the ECB," revealed all-rounder Paul Collingwood.

"Last year we didn't sign our contracts until January so I don't think there are any issues with the IPL or anything like that.

"The PCA organises our contracts and negotiates them for us and we just haven't signed them yet."

But Collingwood, like the rest of England's leading players, would welcome an opportunity to try out the IPL experience - and benefit from the lucrative contracts on offer - providing it does not interfere with his England commitments.

"I haven't had an approach but I would like to play in the IPL if there is a window there that doesn't get in the way of playing for England," he admitted.

One possible compromise over the length of time England's players would be available for the IPL could be to adjust the itinerary for Sri Lanka's tour at the start of next summer, which is already under threat by their players' IPL commitments.

But existing television contracts complicate the issue and while Collingwood is keen to join the IPL, he does not believe it should be given a greater priority than international cricket.

"I don't want the IPL to get in the way of everything else," he added.

"From a player's point of view it would be great to play in the IPL because of the benefits but if it's gets in the way of other things I don't think it's the route to go down."

England are also considering a request from the Indian Board to move the start of the first Test in Ahmedabad back one day to December 12 to accommodate any Indian players involved in the Champions League final, which is due to be played on December 10.