What's new

Grand Slam of cricket: Secret plan hatched for new Saudi-backed T20 league

The difference is the way cricket is, Saudi spends money on sports their population is interested in, Boxing Wrestling, Soccer.. they don’t spend on Badminton, Cricket, hockey, Rugby because their population doesn’t care about it.

Also if they could attract the best they would had done that for soccer, but they aren’t able to to make Saudi league comparable to La Liga or EPL and this is after huge craze among local for soccer.
Saudis care about their population?? I dont think so.
They are investing in whatever helps them sports wash in front of the western world, because that's the only place that matters in terms of money. Cricket will be the first non-western centric venture they are going in.
Do you think an average Saudis knows anything about Golf or F1? If they even invest in Cricket, its a PR stunt and it shows they have little value for Indian perspective in geo-politics. China is not needed to courted as their people have no voice of their own.

Boxing and wrestling are always promoted by tyrants and dictators as it makes them feel like a grand Roman Emperor organizing a gladiatorial fights in the Colosseum.

Oil money will be gone, Hajj tourism money won't be enough to sustain the lavish lifestyle they are used to. MBS knows Saudis need to pivot and pivot hard like Dubai to retain any relevance in the coming decades.
 
The difference is the way cricket is, Saudi spends money on sports their population is interested in, Boxing Wrestling, Soccer.. they don’t spend on Badminton, Cricket, hockey, Rugby because their population doesn’t care about it.

Also if they could attract the best they would had done that for soccer, but they aren’t able to to make Saudi league comparable to La Liga or EPL and this is after huge craze among local for soccer.

It's easier to influence a individual sports than a team sports.
 
It's easier to influence a individual sports than a team sports.
I feel like it will go the way of Allen Stanford experiment that ECB did prior to coming of IPL.
Saudis are throwing money at every little thing that is making wave on the internet.
Recently they had some world Cup of esports too.
If Nodribek ends up qualifying for candidates, Saudis can think of dumping millions into chess too and host the championship match in Jeddah. But maybe its too nerdy for the Arabs.
 

ECB already withdraws support​

Richard Gould, the chief executive officer of the ECB has already stated that the English cricket board would not back the league, stating insufficient free time on the schedule as the reason.

“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,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday (March 18). “It's not something that we would support."


Reportedly, the ECB is keen to protect the Hundred, which recently sold franchise stakes to private investors. The BCCI and the CA would likely be eager to safeguard their respective T20 leagues as well.


——

Lol .. so its England being the issue @HitWicket
 

ECB already withdraws support​

Richard Gould, the chief executive officer of the ECB has already stated that the English cricket board would not back the league, stating insufficient free time on the schedule as the reason.

“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,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday (March 18). “It's not something that we would support."


Reportedly, the ECB is keen to protect the Hundred, which recently sold franchise stakes to private investors. The BCCI and the CA would likely be eager to safeguard their respective T20 leagues as well.


——

Lol .. so its England being the issue @HitWicket

The cricket calendar is congested enough without making room for some Saudi sportswashing.
 

ECB joins forces with BCCI to thwart new Saudi Arabia-backed T20 competition​

  • Boards agree to deny players No Objection Certificates
  • ICC yet to declare formal position on new league

England and Wales Cricket Board has joined forces with the Board of Control for Cricket in India to try to thwart a new global Twenty20 league backed by Saudi Arabia.

Under plans that emerged in Australia this year, Saudi’s SRJ Sports Investments has pledged to inject £400m to set up the new league, which would have eight teams playing four tournaments in different locations each year in a set-up likened to tennis’s grand slams.

Cricket Australia is understood to have expressed interest in partnering with the new league and is willing to host one of the proposed tournaments. CA is yet to benefit from a major injection of private capital, with the Big Bash League franchises owned by the governing body and the states.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in contrast is about to bank £520m from the sale of 49% of the eight Hundred franchises, while Cricket South Africa raised more than £100m by selling franchises in its SA20 competition to Indian Premier League owners three years ago.

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

The positive talks are also a boost for the ECB, which was concerned about alienating India after declining to release Jos Buttler, Jacob Bethell and Will Jacks for the rescheduled IPL playoffs last month due to a clash with England’s white-ball series against West Indies.

The absence of Indian and English players would be a major blow to the new competition’s hopes of getting off the ground, particularly given the congested nature of the global cricket calendar and the competition for players. There are more than 20 short-format leagues played over 10 or 20 overs taking place in men’s cricket this year, plus the Hundred.

The ICC has yet to come to a formal position on the new league, but history suggests it is unlikely to go against the wishes of India. The recently elected ICC chair, Jay Shah, was previously secretary of the BCCI and is the son of India’s home affairs minister, Amit Shah.

Source: The Guardian
 
Back
Top