In frightening news, a few IPL clubs have reached out to various overseas players–six anonymous English players to be exact–to forsake international cricket and instead join them and play in franchise-based T20 leagues around the world. According to the Times, informal discussions between unidentified organizations have been taking place in England, Australia, New Zealand, and even South Africa.
IPL owners seek players for multiple T20 leagues, including outside of international cricket
According to sources, because the IPL owners already have investments in various T20-based leagues around the world, including the UAE, South Africa, and the United States, they are looking for players who can continue to play in other tournaments even if it means departing international cricket.
According to Heath Mills, executive chairman of FICA, the global players’ organization, such a revelation should come as no surprise, as players would prefer to pursue this option in the coming years.
“There have been informal conversations between some franchises and players about being available to play in multiple tournaments. That can take a different shape and form for different players. But it should come as no surprise to anyone in cricket that these conversations are happening and that players will have these sorts of options in the future,” Mills said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
Mills went on to say that such discussions are already taking place, without naming anyone or any team.
“Without going into the specifics of individual conversations, they are about a player being available to play for a franchise in different T20 leagues. A franchise might have three or four teams globally, so they might want the player in multiple competitions – as opposed to just the IPL. It’s not necessarily about signing a player up for all competitions exclusively but rather additional ones to their IPL team,” Mills added.
Indian Cricketers Unlikely to Play in Other T20 Competitions Besides IPL, Overseas Cricketers Sought for the Hundred
However, because Indian players are the most popular and are unlikely to receive permission from the BCCI to play in any other competition other than the IPL, the owners had no choice but to reach out to overseas players. It follows a few cases in the past where a top player in a team chose not to sign a central contract to remain available for these T20 competitions – the most notable example being New Zealand’s Trent Boult, who chose not to sign the central contract with the Black Caps.
On the contrary, the ECB’s managing director, Robert Key, stated earlier this week on BBC’s Test Match Special Podcast that for England players, Test cricket is still the focus, and that falling into this group would take a few years and would not be simple.
“Test cricket is still the hold for English players, I don’t see any time in the near future certainly where one of the Test players, certainly the centrally contracted players, is going to say ‘by the way I’m going off to America for three weeks,” Key said. “I just don’t think that’s going to happen. (https://tokyosmyrna.com) That is not a threat at the moment. Obviously, it is different for white-ball cricketers,” Rob Key said.
