Willey, who signed a one-year contract extension with Yorkshire recently, was bought by Chennai Super Kings as an injury replacement for Kedar Jadhav, becoming the 12th English cricketer – not counting Jofra Archer – to be a part of the tournament. He played three games for Chennai, who won the title.

“I was threatened with them ripping my contract up – which wasn’t great – but that’s been resolved now,” said Willey.

[caption id=”attachment_74286″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″] Willey has recently signed a one-year contract extension with Yorkshire [/caption]

Willey said his decision to play in the IPL was a ‘no-brainer’, adding that the counties should try to look at the “longer-term picture”.

“It was a no-brainer. You don’t get the chance to go and play in the biggest Twenty20 competition in the world every day,” argued Willey, the limited-overs man with 36 ODI and 20 T20I appearances.

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When Willey said yes to Chennai, leaving a Yorkshire pre-season friendly in Leicester on April 9, his county wasn’t pleased. Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s Director of Cricket, had expressed his displeasure, saying, “I will be calling for the introduction of a cut-off date, after which players will not be allowed to go to the IPL. Hopefully this can gain national approval and be supported by the ECB.”

[caption id=”attachment_74285″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″]""="" width="768px" height="432px" srcset="" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px"> Martyn Moxon had expressed his displeasure when Willey agreed to the IPL deal[/caption]

Willey, now part of the England team that’s playing Australia in an ODI series at home, said the counties must expand their horizons.

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“I think the landscape of the modern game is changing, and I do think counties should try and work with it rather than work against it – and look at the longer-term picture,” he said.

“I think if counties had that outward look at these competitions as a longer-term benefit, it would be better for everyone involved. There would be less arguments and fall-outs along the way. I may not be around as much as Yorkshire would like at the minute, but I see myself as having a long-term benefit to the county I’m at.”