The ICC has reportedly decided not to approve future editions of the US-based National Cricket League (NCL) for not adhering to its playing XI rules.
The NCL created waves by announcing its association with some of the biggest yesteryear stars from the world of cricket, including Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Viv Richards, Wasim Akram, among others, to attract the attention of fans.
The ICC has banned NCL for fielding six to seven foreign players on several instances, which is against its guidelines for sanctioning T20 and T10 leagues. As per the ICC guidelines for approving leagues, each team should have a minimum of seven local domestic or associate players in their playing XI.
The likes of Tendulkar and Gavaskar had joined NCL’s ownership group. However, the league is said to have been plagued by a host of operational issues including quality of drop-in pitches that saw Tymal Mills and Wahab Riaz resorting to spin bowling to avoid hurting batters.
Additionally, Cricbuzz reported that there were also serious allegations against NCL of flouting US immigration laws by permitting players to enter USA on tourist visas to minimise expenditure.
It generally costs around $200,000 to sponsor sports category visas for an American cricket tournament with about six teams. But Cricbuzz independently confirmed not all players entered the USA on valid sports visas. Without a clear revenue model to sustain operations, skipping player visa filings seems less like an oversight and more like a cost-cutting measure.
The cricket news platform further reported that the US makes up the highest number of applications for sanctioning T20/T10 leagues on the ICC desk and an ICC official admitted to planning a complete overhaul in the governing body’s sanctioning process going forward.
