Saudi Arabia is secretly planning a new global T20 cricket league, which could mark one of the most significant changes in sports for decades. According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, the T20 league has been in development for over a year and is a brainchild of former New South Wales and Victoria all-rounder Neil Maxwell, manager of current Australian captain Pat Cummins.
Saudi Arabia’s SRJ Sports Investments would be main financer of the unnamed T20 league with an backing of $US500 million, according to the sources reported by the newspaper. The report also states that the discussions are already underway with the International Cricket Council (ICC), chaired by former BCCI secretary Jay Shah.
The birth of the new global T20 league would add up to Saudi Arabia’s fast-growing sports portfolio which already includes LIV Golf, a Formula 1 race and 2034 FIFA World Cup hosting rights among many. Notably, Neil Maxwell had served as board members of the Australian Cricketers’ Association and Cricket NSW.
League structure and number of teams
According to the report, the new T20 league will have eight teams. The league is being modelled on tennis Grand Slams, with the matches to be played on four different locations during the year. The Grand Slams in tennis are being played four times a year – Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open.
Taking the gruelling cricket calendar into consideration, the league would be played during open windows, thus ensuring no clashes with existing international matches and domestic T20 leagues like Indian Premier League and Australia’s Big Bash League.
As far as the teams are concerned, there will be new franchise teams, probably one from different countries, including one from Australia. The league will feature both men’s and women’s competitions with the final to be held in Saudi Arabia.
Why a new global T20 league?
One of the major reasons for a new global T20 League is to address the growing issues about cricket’s future, most prominently to save Test cricket as a sustainable format apart from the big three of India, England and Australia, and also build an alternative revenue source beyond the existing funding model. Under the existing model, member countries do receive finances from the ICC distributions and broadcasters but it is heavily inclined towards superpower India.
Australia and England fall behind India while the smaller countries struggle for financial viability. However, it will be interesting to see whether Jay Shah approves the Saudi Arabia-sponsored T20 league.
