Grade T20 Competition : David Warner, Steven Smith Expected to participate

Suspended Australian cricketers, Steven Smith and David Warner in all likelihood will be the attractions for the new Twenty20 tournament.

It is slated to being competed between some of best grade sides of Australia. Cricket Australia has launched a new T20 event comprising of 10 teams. The tournament is slated to be held in Adelaide next month from March 5-6.

NSW and Victoria will have two teams each

Two clubs from New South Wales and Victoria will automatically qualify for the tournament. The other states and territories will contribute with a side each.

Both Smith and Warner have been suspended for a year by Cricket Australia due to their involvement in the ball-tampering fiasco which unfolded in Cape Town a few months ago.

They are restricted from playing international and domestic cricket during this period. However, both David Warner and Steven Smith can take part in T20 events and Grade Cricket. It got confirmed the tainted duo will be part of grade cricket this summer. They have to chalk out the availability with teams Sutherland and Randwick-Petersham, respectively.

However, there is no reason that why the duo won’t be able to take part in Sydney’s Global T20 grade competition which is expected to start in December. The tournament will serve as a qualification event for the main competition in Adelaide.

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The only possible clash could be with the Global T20 League slated in November.

It is learnt the officials of South Africa are interested in signing both Warner and Smith. In addition, leading administrators has limited players to participate in only three T20 Leagues across the year.

The move is expected to witness a backlash from the players. The same comments were voiced by the Chairman of the Federation of International Cricketer’s Association.

The top brass Speaks

“This problem can’t be solved by simply restricting players from playing in T20 leagues, and FICA will continue to oppose any attempts to unfairly regulate or to restrict players,” FICA boss Tony Irish said.

CA Chief, James Sutherland who was part of the ICC working group, said how to manage risks in different domestic T20 Leagues.

“They need to be managed and regulated in such a way that the best cricketers still want to play international cricket. They aspire to that, and they’re incentivised to do that,” Sutherland said last month. “We don’t want to make it too easy for them to exit (international cricket) prematurely,” he added.

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