ICC planning to introduce cap on overseas players in T20 leagues to safeguard international cricket

The ICC is planning a number of measures to protect international cricket, including limiting the number of foreign players in the playing XI to four in T20 leagues across the world.

An ICC working group came up with a list of recommendations which also included mandating the leagues to pay the respective boards for each player signed in order to minimise the losses national teams face due to the mushrooming of T20 leagues across the world.

According to a report on The Telegraph, the ICC are set to ratify these two recommendations next month. The move comes after the introduction of the UAE’s International League T20 and the Major League Cricket (MLC) in the US, which allow up to nine and six overseas players respectively in the playing XI.

England’s Jason Roy had recently agreed to terminate his England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) incremental contract in order to represent Los Angeles Knight Riders in the inaugural MLC, that takes place next month, which caused further alarm to the ECB and the ICC.

Similarly New Zealand pacer Trent Boult had opted out of his central contract in order to manage his workload between international and franchise cricket.

Besides the ILT20 and MLC, the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) in the West Indies is the only other board that allows more than four players in its playing XI, allowing up to five overseas players.

The limit of four overseas players is in line with the rule that has been in place in the Indian Premier League (IPL) since its inaugural edition in 2008.

The recommendation that leagues pay boards 10 per cent of the fees that they would be paying the player also closely follows the existing structure in the IPL. The global body believes the move will help national board minimise losses caused by player drain.

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