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Amid the growing culture of franchise cricket across the globe, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is set to discuss multiple proposals to keep all of the top-tier franchise cricket leagues under the same rule set. Currently, different cricket leagues can have different rules. ICC top officials will sit and discuss whether to introduce a set of rules for all of the leagues.
In July this year, the Council set up a franchise leagues review group to take a close look at every running franchise league. The group has reportedly suggested multiple crucial points to the cricket council, which are currently under consideration by the top officials of the global cricket governing body.
MLC and ILT20 are mostly based on overseas cricketers
While franchise leagues like the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Big Bash League (BBL) aim to expand their business by promoting local talent with a limited number of foreign players in their playing elevens, some other leagues are mainly dependent on overseas cricket talent to attract cricket fans' attention.
Major League Cricket (MLC) in the United States and UAE's ILT20 are among those cricket leagues that are mainly dependent on overseas cricketers rather than promoting local talent. Among the proposals submitted by the review group to the ICC, one is to fix the number of overseas players in the playing elevens for each league. If the council puts its stamp on the proposal, then MLC and ILT20 will receive a heavy blow.
The review group submitted multiple proposals to the ICC
According to a Cricinfo report, regulations on an overseas player cap in an XI, expanding ICC power to review and audit a sanction, restricting betting or surrogates of betting companies from sponsoring any league, and charging a fee to provide sanction for a league are among the top proposals made by the review group.
The Council will have to review and take a final call on whether to implement any or all of those proposals. ICC is set to hold a meeting in Bali this weekend, where the proposals are likely to be discussed. In case they sanction these proposals as a guideline, then the leagues like ILT20 and MLC could be in serious trouble.
Nine overseas players in the playing XI!
Currently, ILT20 allows up to nine overseas players in an XI, including one from an Associate Member, and MLC allows up to six overseas players in the playing XI. If the ICC limits the number of overseas players in the playing XI, then these two leagues could have to put focus on their regional cricketers more than ever.
It will be interesting to see the position of investors and owners of the leagues if the cricket council directed the leagues to reduce the number of foreign players in their playing combinations.
A major part of earnings in the leagues is because of the star attractions. As the USA or the United Arab Emirates lack star power in their respective national team, they have no choice but to keep trusting in the stars of other nations.
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