ECB rejects Saudi-backed global T20 league proposal

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has firmly opposed the proposed Saudi-funded global Twenty20 league, citing concerns over an already congested international calendar and the strain on player workloads.

According to a report by the Sydney Morning Herald, the proposed tournament dubbed the ‘Grand Slam of Cricket’ aims to bring together eight teams for matches played across four different global locations. The initiative, spearheaded by former Australian cricketer Neil Maxwell, is backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund through SRJ Sports Investments, led by Danny Townsend.

Despite the tournament’s ambitious vision, ECB chief executive Richard Gould dismissed the idea, stating that the current cricketing landscape does not allow for additional competitions.

“With the busy international calendar, a host of established franchise leagues around the world, and existing concerns about player workloads, there is no scope or demand for such an idea,” Gould told the Sydney Morning Herald. “It’s not something that we would support.”

The proposed league follows a format similar to tennis Grand Slams, with teams gathering four times yearly in different nations. Organizers claim that the initiative aims to create a new revenue stream for financially weaker cricket boards while preserving the status of Test cricket.

However, the ECB remains focused on its franchise tournament, The Hundred. The 100-ball format league recently secured $1.27 billion in private investment, solidifying its place in England’s cricketing structure. With the Indian Premier League (IPL) still setting the standard for franchise cricket and established T20 leagues in Australia, Pakistan, the West Indies, South Africa, and the UAE, the ECB sees little need for additional global competition.

While the ECB has distanced itself from the Saudi-backed initiative, the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) has shown interest in the proposal, emphasizing its potential benefits for players. The ACA sees the league as an opportunity to promote collective bargaining agreements and gender-equity pay models for male and female cricketers.

“The ACA’s early interest in exploring this concept is motivated by a desire to develop and normalize best-practice collective bargaining and an international gender-equity pay model for male and female cricketers,” the ACA stated in response to the proposal.