As the number of franchise cricket leagues grows around the world, fans and cricket experts are more likely to say that the international game will slowly die out, comparing it to the dominance of European teams in football. The first sign of this change was when Jason Roy decided not to sign his deal with the England and Wales Cricket Board and instead accepted a lucrative offer from the LA Knight Riders team in the USA’s Major League Cricket (MLC). The International Cricket Council (ICC) plans to make two major changes to franchise games around the world in order to address issues.
The Telegraph said that the ICC plans to follow the Indian Premier League’s rule that only four foreign players can be in the starting XI. For each star they sign, owners will also have to pay a certain fee to their national boards.
The rule that each club can only have four players is a reaction to the International League T20 (ILT20), which was held in the United Arab Emirates and allowed nine foreign players in the starting XI. The story says that the structure of a rumored Twenty20 league in Saudi Arabia would be the same. But this rule makes it less likely that players will leave their national contracts to join T20 club games.
According to the story, each club must give at least 10% of the player’s fees to their national board. This gives the cricket board a large source of income. This rule is the same as the one set up by the Indian Premier League.
Lan Gould, the head of the ECB, was worried that franchise cricket could take over the international game. He said, “The problem for the ECB and our revenue is that we have so many mouths to feed. The franchise tournaments can take the best players because they don’t have to pay for them.” Gould shared his ideas on The Final Word Cricket Podcast this month. He talked about how well business models make money for players, but he also said that the path to long-term success needs to be paid for.
“We need to pay for the road. We’ll keep doing that.” The key to long-term success is to have a really strong, healthy path,” Gould said.
