ECB Blocks English Players from Joining PSL
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has reportedly prohibited its players from participating in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and other franchise leagues that clash with the English domestic season. However, players will remain fully available for the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the next three editions.
This new policy aims to enhance the quality of England’s domestic competitions, including the Vitality Blast and The Hundred. The ECB also reportedly plans to prevent players from participating in leagues suspected of corruption or joining another competition immediately after being eliminated from one.
“The ECB will also stop allowing players to appear in any competitions that overlap with the Vitality Blast and the Hundred. The board confirmed that players will be barred from leagues suspected of corruption and prevented from “double-dipping”—switching to a new tournament once eliminated from another competition taking place at the same time,” News18 quoted the report.
The ECB has further introduced stricter rules preventing English players from missing domestic white-ball matches, even if they no longer play First-Class cricket.
“We need to protect the integrity of our sport and the strength of our competitions in England and Wales as well,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould was quoted as saying by The Telegraph.
“This policy gives clarity to players and professional counties around our approach to issuing No Objection Certificates. It will enable us to strike the right balance between supporting players who want to take up opportunities to earn and gain experience while also protecting the integrity of cricket globally, ensuring we don’t undermine our own ECB competitions, and managing the welfare of centrally contracted England players,” he added.
Notably, the 2025 Pakistan Super League is expected to run from mid-March to mid-April, overlapping with the IPL, which begins on March 14. Several top English players, including Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, and Phil Salt, will feature in the IPL after being picked in the mega auction held on November 24-25 in Jeddah.
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Last Updated on November 29, 2024
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