ECB and BCCI join hands to scuttle ambitious Saudi T20: Report

The ambitious Saudi T20 league, which is believed to be a USD 400 million project, won't be backed by the BCCI or the England and Wales Cricket Board as they try to protect their respective flagship tourneys from getting diluted, British newspaper The Guardian has reported.

"During discussions at the World Test Championship final at Lord's this month, the ECB and BCCI agreed to unite in opposing the new league. The boards agreed they would not issue "no objection certificates" to their players to sign up for the new competition, as well as lobbying the International Cricket Council (ICC) to withhold their endorsement," the newspaper wrote.

Apparently Cricket Australia (CA) was keen on partnering with Saudi investors in the league.


"Under plans that emerged in Australia this year, Saudi's SRJ Sports Investments has pledged to inject USD 400m to set up the new league, which would have eight teams playing four tournaments in different locations each year in a set-up that has been compared to tennis's Grand Slams," Guardian said.

For CA, the main aim is to earn profit from the cash inflow by a private investor as the Big Bash League (BBL) franchises are owned by the governing body and the states.

However, IPL is a USD 12 billion product and the ECB is all set to get richer by GBP 520m (USD 700 million) from the sale of 49% of the eight 'Hundred franchises'.

"Cricket South Africa raised more than GBP 100m (USD 136 million) by selling franchises in its SA20 competition to Indian Premier League owners three years ago."

The paper also reported that the ICC, currently run by former BCCI secretary Jay Shah, is unlikely to go against the wishes of the Indian board.