Dubai: The days of new, shorter league formats getting a quick sanction from the International Cricket Council (ICC) are over.
Geoff Allardice, the ICC’s General Manager of Cricket, has revealed that vetting process by host countries and the ICC would be enhanced soon amid the mushrooming of shorter league formats around the world.
“One of the things we will be talking about in our meeting next week it will be around regulations and sanctioning of events and also the release of players,” he said.
“It is not just going to be an open door for any promoter to come in. I think it will be a bit harder to get sanctioned in the future and any tournament would need both the support of the home country and the ICC.”
Allardice’s comments are significant at a time when the UAE will be hosting five franchise competitions this season.
The UAE just hosted Abu Dhabi T20 event while the Afghanistan Premier League is currently going on in Sharjah.
This will be followed by the T10 League in November, the UAE T20X in December and the fourth season of the Pakistan Super League in February.
To ensure that tournaments such as the ill-fated Masters Champions League (MCL), that was held in UAE in 2016 and ended up with players not being paid, is not repeated, Allardice said: “The sanctioning of the events is one way we say a league that comes up in the UAE needs the approval of the Emirates Cricket Board and it also needs approval of the ICC. So you look at all of the documentation and the ownership structures and how the league is going to be funded and all these things types of things and then you provide approval.”
He said how it rolls out after that is in the hands of the owners.
“But what happens the next time is that if this [non-payment] happens, generally players won’t go back. So the future success of a league is in jeopardy. The other thing is if we get reports that sort of things happen then the likelihood of sanctioning the second edition of a league is significantly reduced. I think perhaps the hurdles to jump for a promoter to put on a T20 league are going to be a bit higher and that the vetting process by both the host country and by the ICC would be enhanced.”
Allardice also said that leagues are good for promoting cricket.
“It’s a balance because the leagues can be a good vehicle for promoting cricket in new countries,” he said.
“There was a tournament in Canada not so long ago. That gave some cricket fans to see some elite cricketers. It could be a good step but the league has also got to be good for the game. And that means the players are looked after, the game is promoted well that leaves so legacy for cricket in that country and I think that’s what we are looking at.”
