Former England national cricket team batsman James Vince has criticized the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for their policy of not allowing players from overseas leagues. He said it doesn't seem right why players are allowed in IPL and not in PSL.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have, in recent months, been hard on their players. This is because players prioritize gameplay for the England national cricket team and as well as in England domestic cricket in overseas leagues.
England players will only be allowed to play in the IPL
The ECB has changed its NOC policy whereby players will not be granted NOCs for leagues that will clash with the English summer unless the player has a white-ball-only deal with their country. The county will face the Pakistan Super League and hence no player will be part of it.
England players will also not be allowed to play the tournament which will conflict with the Vitality Blast and The Hundred schedule. This means that players will find it difficult to play in Major League Cricket, Canada's Global T20 League and Lanka Premier League as well as the Caribbean Premier League.
However, England players will only be allowed to play in the IPL. ECB made policy for all other leagues except IPL. This speaks about their relationship with BCCI as even the main players of England national cricket team will play IPL.
So it was a big one where it just didn't seem right that, you know, why the IPL and not the PSL? – James Vince
James Vince spoke about the same and raged at the ECB saying that PCB is shorter than IPL and hence players would have missed less domestic cricket. He said the ECB has a special relationship with the BCCI and has seen 25 and 30 cancel their Red Bull contracts. Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, he said:
“The PSL is a shorter competition, so if you're going to play in that, you're probably going to miss out on less domestic cricket than if you went to the IPL. So it was a big one where it just didn't seem right that, you know, why the IPL and not the PSL?
“I guess it must be something to do with the relations between the ECB and the PCB and the BCCI why they came up with this rule. I suspect another 25, 30 English players on decent contracts would have been selected if there were more people who gave up their Red Bull contract to accept the offer.”
I don't think it helps English players who are signed for all formats in the draft – James Vince
James Vince went on to talk about the challenges of being allowed to play in the PSL over the NOC issues. He said that the Karachi team management was hesitant to pick players from the draft. He added:
“I don't think it helps the English players who are signed for all formats in the draft because I know we've had a bit of dialogue with our owners and the team management in Karachi. They were worried about taking someone in the draft and then the NEC is denied. So it doesn't help the English players in the draft either,” said James Vince.
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