Nowadays the craze of T20 league is increasing all over the world. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia was also preparing to enter this field, on which the England Cricket Board (ECB) has clearly banned it.
What is the $500 million Saudi T20 League “Cricket Grand Slam”?
Actuall, Saudi Arabia plans a global T20 tournament in which eight teams will play at four different places. These teams will get money from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.
This league has been named “Cricket’s Grand Slam”. Its format will be like the Grand Slam of tennis, in which matches will be held in different countries four times a year.
The Saudi government has planned to invest $500 million in it. If the league starts, then the earnings from it will be divided equally among all the cricket playing countries.
According to sources, talks are going on with the ICC about this. Which has not yet got the approval of the ICC. If approved, this league will be played in the free time of the cricket calendar.
Its purpose is not to interfere with the current international matches and local T20 leagues like IPL or Big Bash.
The ICC Cricket Board, including Cricket Australia, will play an important role in approving this league. The final decision is in the hands of ICC Chief Jay Shah, who will have to decide whether Indian players can play in it or not. However, according to BCCI rules, Indian players are not allowed to play in foreign leagues.
Why is Saudi’s T20 league “Grand Slam of Cricket” banned?
The ECB has taken a big decision and banned the new Global T20 League run by Saudi Arabia’s money.
Regarding which, England Cricket Board boss Richard Gould cited increasing workload and said that he would not support anything like this.
“Given the already busy international calendar, the franchise leagues running around the world and the workload of the players, there is no room or demand for such an idea. It is not something we would support,”
Gold told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper on Tuesday.
The reason behind this ban is being said that the ECB is currently focusing on saving its 100-ball tournament ‘The Hundred’.
But on the other hand, the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) has supported this league. They say that this can benefit the players.
