"ensuring we don’t undermine our own ECB competitions"
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has banned players from participating in the Pakistan Super League and other franchise divisions that clash with the domestic summer.
However, there is an exception: players in England and Wales can still participate in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The 2025 IPL will start in March.
Richard Gould, ECB Chief Executive, said:
“We need to protect the integrity of our sport and the strength of our competitions in England and Wales as well.
“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.”
Concerns were raised that many English cricketers could join the PSL. Without intervention from the ECB, it was feared this would risk a decline in the quality of the County Championship.
The decision could significantly impact England Cricket. Indeed, some fear that top players could end their red-ball careers to make themselves available for franchise tournaments.
However, the ECB believes the new policy will help protect the quality of domestic cricket.
The ECB will also not grant permission to players to feature in other leagues if they clash with The Hundred or T20 Blast.
Moreover, players will not be permitted to play leagues suspected of being corrupt.
The board also forbade cricketers from “double-dipping”, the practice of participating in more than one tournament at the same time.
The decision has left players in a difficult position, as franchise leagues are a massive source of income.
The T20 Blast and Hundred 2025 will clash with Major League Cricket, Canada’s Global T20 League, and Sri Lanka’s Premier League. The Caribbean Premier League begins in late August.
The PSL 2025 will take place in April. It was feared that many top England cricketers could skip domestic cricket to play the T20 league.
The players are now facing a challenging situation following the ban imposed by the ECB.
In 2024, Jason Roy missed T20 Blast fixtures for Surrey to appear in Major League Cricket and the Caribbean Premier League.
Moreover, Alex Hales missed Blast matches for Nottinghamshire to appear in the Lanka Premier League.
Players holding white-ball-only contracts, however, may still be eligible to participate in such tournaments.
Star players like Saqib Mahmood, who recently signed a white-ball-only deal with Lancashire, may still find a pathway to participate in overseas leagues.
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