CLAMPING DOWN
Representative Image: USA has emerged as a hotbed of new T20/T10 leagues. © Getty
A year after establishing stricter guidelines for the sanctioning of T20 and T10 leagues around the world, ICC set a major precedent by clamping down on USA’s National Cricket League (NCL) for flouting playing eleven rules. In a letter written to USA Cricket (USAC) and accessed by Cricbuzz, the world governing body informed its decision to not sanction the league for future editions. The letter primarily cited the non-compliance to the playing eleven requirements, which includes the fielding of 7 USAC affiliated or associate players and the breach of sanction regulations known to NCL authorities prior to the event.
The NCL endeavoured to spark interest amongst the cricketing fraternity by roping in stars like Wasim Akram and Vivian Richards as its ambassadors. It also created a stir by attracting Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar to its ownership group. The presence of the star quotient, however, failed to address the operational inefficiencies that marred the league from the onset. In the letter, the ICC also hinted at problems with the NCL ‘on and off the pitch’. Apart from the non adherence to the playing eleven rules, where one saw 6-7 foreign players being fielded on multiple instances, the drop in wickets at the pop up venue proved to substandard where the likes of Wahab Riaz and Tymal Mills were mandated to bowl spin to avoid bodily harm to batsmen.
Cricbuzz also reported the concerns regarding the league’s handling of foreign players and potential violations of U.S. immigration laws. It generally costs around USD 200,000 to sponsor sports category visas for an American cricket tournament with about six teams. But Cricbuzz independently confirmed not all players entered the USA on valid sports visas to partake in the tournament. Without a clear revenue model to sustain operations, skipping player visa filings seemed less like an oversight and more like a cost-cutting measure.
USA has emerged as the hotbed for fledgling T20 and T10 leagues with the deep pockets of the South Asian diaspora looking to associate themselves with the game. The presence of close to 60 first class and international cricketers in the American set up further facilitates the idea of instituting a quick fix league. Cricbuzz can confirm that USA constitutes the highest number of applications for sanctioning T20/T10 leagues on the ICC desk and an ICC official admitted to planning a complete overhaul in the governing body’s sanctioning process in times to come.
USAC may have taken heed to ICC’s admonition on the NCL issue as it understood that USAC has opted not to sanction the US Open T20, one of the many pop up weekend tournaments with a long standing history of over 10 years. The specifics of the sanctioning disapproval are unclear but it may well have been weeded out as a result of a larger exercise hinted by the ICC to push the reset button on league sanctioning standards around the world.
© Cricbuzz
