CAYMAN ISLANDS — In a dramatic standoff, players participating in the second season of the Max60 tournament in the Cayman Islands refused to take the field Tuesday, citing unpaid wages and a breach of contract by tournament organizers.
As a result, all five T10 matches scheduled for July 22—the penultimate day of the week-long tournament—were canceled.
One player told cricexec that the deadline for full payment was set for Tuesday, yet many had only received between 20 and 30% of what was contractually owed. Some players had not received any payment at all.
Multiple players said they had been informed by their team officials that the salaries had already been transferred to the league, but they were still waiting to receive their funds directly from tournament organizers.
What went wrong?
According to background provided by multiple sources involved in the tournament:
- Senior players’ contracts stipulated that 50% of their fees must be paid 30 days before the tournament’s start on July 16, and the remaining 50% was due Tuesday (i.e. payment in full). For the more junior players the picture and the terms were different with many having been signed just in the last week
- As of Tuesday, few to none of the senior players had received the initial required 50%. Most had received between 10–25%, with some having received nothing at all.
- Players continued participating in the early matches in good faith, relying on repeated promises that payments were “coming shortly.”
- BMP Sports Events, the tournament’s organizer, was notified multiple times of the breach and warned that failure to resolve the issue could lead to legal action.
- With no resolution by Tuesday, players collectively decided to withdraw, leading to the wholesale cancellation of the day’s matches.
Some agents have reported that payments to their players have started to clear and a number had received their first 50% payments.
That said, there is a growing sense among player representatives and agents that legal proceedings will likely be initiated against BMP for breach of contract.
Players take action
While the Max60 incident may appear isolated, it highlights a troubling trend in global franchise cricket: the repeated failure of sanctioned tournaments to honor player contracts.
“It’s disappointing to hear that players still haven’t been paid what they’re owed under their contracts,” said Tom Moffat, CEO of the World Cricketers’ Association (WCA), which represents players internationally. “Players have fulfilled their commitments in good faith the whole way along, but it’s unreasonable for anyone to expect them to continue to turn up and put on the show if the terms of their contracts have flagrantly been breached.”
“This isn’t an isolated or new issue. It’s another example of an officially sanctioned cricket event treating player contracts like worthless pieces of paper,” Moffat added. “There are simple solutions to these issues, and the game’s global leadership and regulations should protect the whole sport, and people within it.”
By multiple accounts, players in Season 1 experienced widespread late payment, with some still not having been paid what was owed for Season 1 at the start of Season 2.
About Max60 Season 2
Max60’s second season was scheduled to run from July 16 to 23 in Grand Cayman. The Caribbean Tigers and Grand Cayman Jaguars opened the tournament on Day 1, followed by Cayman Bay Stingrays vs. Miami Blaze.
The tournament was set to conclude on July 23, with a final match followed by a special exhibition game between a Cayman XI and a World XI.
Players featured this year included global stars like Martin Guptill, Dawid Malan, Josh Brown, Kyle Mayers, Isuru Udana, Shakib Al Hasan, and Mohammad Nabi, alongside emerging cricketers from across the Caribbean and the USA.
“At MAX60, we believe the future of cricket lies in bold formats and bold opportunities. Giving young players meaningful match experience against world-class talent is not just part of our mission — it’s at the heart of it,” said Lewis Murphy, the league’s marketing and brand manager, in earlier remarks.
But the ambitious tone has now been overshadowed by player frustration and allegations of unmet obligations.
Highly-touted broadcast plans
As of earlier this month, the tournament had announced that it had secured broad international distribution across major cricket markets:
- Caribbean: Flow Sports
- India: Sony Sports and Fancode
- USA: Willow
- United Kingdom: TNT Sports
- Australia: Fox Cricket
- Middle East & North Africa: Sports Central
- Africa: SuperSport
- Pakistan: Tapmad and ARY Digital
- Bangladesh: TSports
- Global Streaming: BMP Sports app (launch pending)
Whether any further matches will be played—or broadcast—now hinges on a swift resolution of the payment crisis.
Star-Studded squads now in limbo
Season 2 featured eight teams, each filled with both international marquee names and domestic hopefuls:
- Vegas Vikings: Unmukt Chand, Alex Hales, Shahbaz Nadeem
- Miami Blaze: Shakib Al Hasan, Shehan Jayasuriya, Kesrick Williams
- Caribbean Tigers: Josh Brown, Andrew Tye, Isuru Udana
- Cayman Bay Stingrays: Dawid Malan, Peter Hatzoglou, Mark Watt
- Florida Lions: Thisara Perera, Lahiru Gamage, Imran Khan
- Boca Raton Trailblazers: David Warner, Carlos Brathwaite, George Munsey
- Grand Cayman Falcons: Mohammad Nabi, Adam Rossington, Chandrapaul Hemraj
- Grand Cayman Jaguars (not listed in current S2 squad graphic but featured in S1)
The presence of such big names had elevated Max60’s visibility and promised to strengthen the tournament’s credibility. That credibility is now at risk.
What’s Next?
With the playoffs and finals scheduled for Wednesday, the entire tournament hangs in the balance. By all accounts, players are standing firm, and unless payments are made promptly and in full, it’s unclear whether the remaining matches—especially the much-anticipated final and World XI exhibition—will take place at all.
For BMP Sports Events, their critical next moves remain to be seen. For the players, it’s one more painful reminder that many tournaments, especially T10 tournaments, often lack the structural safeguards they deserve.
This is a developing story. cricexec will continue to monitor and report on the situation as more information becomes available.
