Retired greats Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne on Wednesday met ICC Chief Executive Dave Richardson at the global body’s headquarters here to discuss their ambitious legends T20 cricket league, proposed to be held in the USA in August-September. “Sachin and Warne dropped in at the ICC headquarters this morning and met the ICC CEO Dave Richardson to share their planning and blueprint for the league that they are planning to float,” an ICC Spokesperson said.
However, the well-informed sources said it is not under ICC’s jurisdiction to clear a private league floated by individuals as it comes under the purview of the home cricket board where the tournament or matches are supposed to be held. “look, ICC is not the body to clear the tournament. As per ICC’s constitution, it is the home board that clears the tournament and informs the ICC subsequently about it.
“For example, it was the BCCI that informed us that the Indian Cricket league backed by Essel Group was not approved by them. So it was dubbed as an unsanctioned league. Similarly IPl, CPl, Natwest T20 Blast are leagues approved by BCCI, ECB and WICB,” the sources explained. The matches are being planned in US cities like Chicago, New York and los Angeles.
“The rule remains the same. There the governing body is USACA (United States of America Cricket Association) and if it’s being held in the US, they would need their approval.” There is a possibility that the two legends met Richardson to seek guidance from the ICC regarding logistical matters related to conducting a tournament and other nitty gritties.
Both Tendulkar and Warne took to twitter to confirm their meeting with ICC top official. “looking forward to the challenge @ShaneWarne. GAME ON!! It is #SachinversusWarne!!!,” Tendulkar tweeted before the meeting. “Exciting meeting today with the #ICC Game on #SachinversusWarne !!!” was Warne’s tweet.
Tendulkar and Warne have reportedly offered 28 former players contracts worth $25,000 a match for the proposed league. According to reports, Brett lee, Andrew Flintoff, Jacques Kallis, Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath, Michael Vaughan, Sourav Ganguly, Mahela Jayawardene were among the former stars who have been approached for the league.
Veterans’ T20 league in Dubai
After Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne, another league is scheduled to start in 2016 featuring retired legends like Brian lara, Wasim Akram, Adam Gilchrist was announced. The tournament named Masters Champions league (MCl) will be a franchise-based league that will be held across three stadiums in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has also got the requisite permission from the Emirates Cricket Board.
The tournament will be made up of six teams in its first year, with a total of 90 players taking part — 15 members per squad. The players will all be former international cricketers, who are now retired from all forms of the professional sport. The MCl has been approved for a 10 year period by the Emirates Cricket Board, while the organiser and rights owner of the tournament, GM Sports, is also closely following the established guidelines set out by game’s governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC). The inaugural MCl matches are due to take place over two weeks in February, 2016.They will be played in the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium and Sharjah Cricket Stadium.