County chief executives have discussed the growing threat that overseas T20 leagues pose to the English domestic game amid fears of an exodus of English players.
The rise of overseas T20 leagues has created new and lucrative opportunities for English players abroad. This month, for the first time ever, four major T20 leagues – Australia’s Big Bash, the Bangladesh Premier League, the SA20 in South Africa and the International League T20 in UAE – are being played in tandem.
In July, Major League Cricket will launch in the USA, and has significant financial backing, including from owners of Indian Premier League teams. Major League Cricket are poised to sign some England white-ball specialists, including T20 World Cup winner Alex Hales.
Neil Snowball, the England & Wales Cricket Board’s Managing Director of County Cricket, addressed county chief executives over their regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, making a presentation to counties on the growing threat posed by T20 leagues.
One chief executive said that clubs were concerned about the possibility of losing players from the English game. The launch of Major League Cricket will mean that T20 players now have alternative options to the English domestic game during the Northern hemisphere option.
This year, leading players in Major League Cricket stand to be able to earn in excess of £100,000 during the three-week tournament. English players could play in both Major League Cricket and the Caribbean Premier League, which was played in August and September last year, severely limiting their availability for the county game.
“That is a worry,” said one county chief executive who attended the meetings. “Is that what market forces are going to? Who knows? These are the things we need to be thinking about collectively.
“County cricket can’t bury its head in the sand.”
At the meeting, two notable parallels were made. First, with basketball, where leading international players are often recruited by the National Basketball Association at such a young age that they never play in their own domestic league at all.
Second, with other cricket nations, which are increasingly concerned about losing the best talent from their own domestic system.
For instance, South Africa Dewald Brevis was signed by Mumbai Indians aged 18 and is now playing T20 around the world – but has never played a first-class game, and has a schedule so packed it is not clear when he will be able to make his red-ball debut.
“It’s happening in other parts of the world isn’t it,” said the chief executive. “It’s about making sure we protect ourselves.”
The meeting raised the threat posed to the English domestic game but did not outline solutions that counties should take at this stage. Indeed, the ECB’s emphasis was to facilitate dialogue among counties, rather than be prescriptive about what steps they should take.
In practice, counties are likely to discuss how their schedule can be as attractive as possible to players, to minimise the risks of cricketers not playing in England’s domestic competitions. Counties might also be flexible in allowing some players to become white-ball specialists. An exodus of players from first-class cricket, to pursue short-format opportunities around the world, would lower standards in the County Championship.
There is already a small but growing trends of county cricketers, such as Hales, signing white-ball only contracts and not playing in first-class cricket.
Last year, aged 21, rising star Will Smeed signed a white-ball only deal with Somerset – effectively, retiring from first-class cricket before making his debut. “I want to become the best white-ball player I can, and the sacrifice is playing red-ball cricket,” Smeed told Telegraph Sport at the time.
The threat from Major League Cricket will grow in the years ahead. This year the tournament is scheduled to run from July 13-30 – in the window between the T20 Blast and the Hundred – but it is expected to expand, potentially from as early as next year, putting greater pressure on the English game, especially the T20 Blast.
There are fears that, in the future, some English players will seek to play in Major League Cricket instead of the T20 Blast.
This year, the schedule makes it possible for English players who do not play first-class cricket to play all three of the T20 Blast, Major League Cricket and the Hundred. Hales, who played his final red-ball game in 2017, is in advanced talks to sign with Major League Cricket.
The meeting of county chief executives follows the fears about franchise leagues which were outlined in the High Performance Review, published last September.
“England is increasingly competing with franchise leagues for talent,” the High Performance Review said. “Global cricket appears to be at a tipping point. With the proliferation of franchise T20 tournaments around the world (13 major tournaments expected in 2023) the opportunities for talented young cricketers are significant.”
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