Justin Vaughan, the chief executive of New Zealand Cricket (NZC), has said that his board would prefer the ICC's post-2012 Future Tours Programme (FTP) over a proposed Twenty20 Southern Premier League (SPL) along with Australia and South Africa.

Vaughan suggested that the ICC's bilateral engagement schedule was more financially rewarding for New Zealand than the SPL.

"I don't want to put a full stop on it and say it won't happen but if you want to have an IPL, Champions League, SPL and bi-lateral tours, something has to give," Vaughan told the Herald on Sunday.

"In its current state, the FTP looks very attractive to us, so it would be of considerable financial sacrifice to us to try to carve out an SPL.

The FTP is not locked in yet, so it is difficult to make a definitive statement." NZC commercial manager Peter Dwan said if the FTP did allow for the SPL to be held in October then Australia, South Africa and New Zealand would have to reduce their international commitments.

"Even so, you can have all the desire in the world to make it [the SPL] happen but it might not be feasible under the new programme.

The FTP will have a significant knock-on effect," Dwan said.

The SPL, involving franchises from Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, was proposed last year and was due to kick-off in 2011 but media reports have subsequently claimed that New Zealand will not be fielding any franchises or hosting games.

The current FTP lapses into 2012 and there have been some, like Federation of International Cricketers' Associations chief executive Tim May, who have said the ICC and its members should rework the FTP to reduce international fixtures and create windows for domestic events such as IPL, which involves international players.