The inaugural T20x League, which was scheduled to begin in the United Arab Emirates next month, has been called off. Despite getting approval from the International Cricket Council (ICC) and roping in big names with likes of Eoin Morgan, David Miller, Steve Smith, Andre Russell and Kumara Sangakarra as the icon players, the much-awaited Asian tournament would not be going ahead.
On Thursday, the Emirates Cricket Board confirmed the development through a statement after their commercial partners were unable to find buyers for three of the five franchises.
“Whilst negotiations had been completed on two franchise teams and a further three were well advanced, it was felt that there was no longer sufficient time to close the sales process and to successfully deliver and promote a December event,” read the statement.
Earlier in the month of July, Full Member boards at the ICC suggested that the council should consider restricting the proliferation of franchise leagues, limiting the participation of players to a fixed number of leagues. As a result, the commercial planning of the T20x project suffered and ultimately got called off.
“The decision of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in July to explore potential limitations on T20 cricket leagues and player participation in them meant that investment into UAE T20x had to be curtailed throughout the summer in anticipation of a decision. This, in turn, impacted timings around commercial conversations with potential franchise buyers,” the statement read further.
After this sudden blow, the T20x league becomes the second Asian T20 tournament to be cancelled this year following the 2018 Hong Kong T20 Blitz (which has been pushed to 2019). The cancellation will surely be a disappointment for the local player and their associates as three spots per side was reserved for each and two for emerging talents.