Huge controversy erupts! David White fires back at Graeme Smith's brutal criticism of ILT20

The CEO of International League T20 (ILT20) David White has hit back at former South Africa captain Graeme Smith's comments in which the latter criticized the league and called it a "challenge" for the world of cricket.

Smith claimed that ILT20 is not doing anything for the growth of cricket and it needs to be looked at. However, White has decided to respond to Smith's criticism and reminded him how the league is benefitting cricket in the UAE and the associate nations.

It is to be noted that Graeme Smith is the commissioner of the ongoing SA20, South Africa's own franchise-based T20 league. Both SA20 and ILT20 will coincide with each other which will divide a no. of big names in the world of cricket.

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David White hits back at Graeme Smith's brutal criticism of ILT20

While speaking to Cricbuzz, David White was brutal in his assessment of Graeme Smith's comments on ILT20. He claimed that the league is giving opportunities to players from associate nations and is the only league to do so.

"Oh, Mr. Smith, it's not our policy to speak about other leagues. We are the only league in the world that provides a platform for the associate countries to participate at this level. We've got players from Nepal, Malaysia, USA, Scotland, Netherlands, Namibia and Italy," White said.

White is also the former CEO of New Zealand Cricket. He further asked Graeme Smith to do proper research about the motives of ILT20 and reminded him how UAE has always helped the cricketing world to host big events.

"Listen, he's entitled to his comments, but I just think that his comments have been made without doing any investigation, maybe he should have taken the time to look at what we're looking to achieve, what we are achieving and the importance that this league has in terms of the growth of cricket in the UAE, the wider Gulf and the international game," he explained.

"It's easy to dismiss the influence of the UAE. The UAE has got unbelievable facilities and privately invested facilities, and it is the backstop for all the ICC events," White said.

What did Graeme Smith say about ILT20?

Graeme Smith had earlier taken a brutal dig at ILT20 and bad-mouthed them by calling it not good for the game's future. He claimed that the league is not contributing to the grass-root level which is a big challenge.

"We've been built up against IL T20, so it's very difficult for me to not come across like I'm bad-mouthing them, but I do feel like a league like that is not good for the game; that there's that many international players required to build a team; there's no investment back into local cricket," the former South Africa opener remarked.

"That is a challenge for the world game and something that needs to be managed going forward," he noted.

SA20 and ILT20 coinciding with each other

The third season of SA20 began from January 9 with MI Cape Town getting the better of defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape by a massive margin of 97 runs. Two matches have been played so far. The final of the tournament will be played on February 8.

Meanwhile, IL T20 will begin from January 11 with Dubai Capitals taking on MI Emirates in the first match at Dubai. The tournament will run from January 11 to February 9. Since both the tournaments will run simultaneously, the marquee players of cricket world will be divided.