USA Cricket Chair cites new ICC guidelines in message to NCL team
According to reports, the National Cricket League (NCL) tournament, launched last October in Dallas, TX, is set to regain its sanctioning from USA Cricket.
This comes as the NCL’s Canadian affiliate recently acquired Canada’s GT20 tournament, a deal blessed by Cricket Canada.
According to sources familiar with the matter, USA Cricket Chair Venu Pisike recently communicated to the NCL team that the ICC had released updated sanctioning guidelines for events this past March 1, and that USA Cricket “is willing to consider NCL sanctioning application once submitted and process per the new ICC guidelines.”
This marks a major departure from the situation last year when the NCL lost its sanctioning last December after the ICC was reported to have sent a letter to USA Cricket about the tournament.
Background: NCL Tournament
The NCL tournament – a “60 strikes” or T10 format competition – launched last year, with many high profile names from the cricket world in the ownership and management team.
These included:
- Haroon Lorgat, former CEO of the ICC as Commissioner
- Sachin Tendulkar, Indian legend, as part of the ownership group
- Brand ambassadors and advisors including: former Pakistan captains Wasim Akram and Zaheer Abbas and former India Captains Dilip Vengsarkar and Sunil Gavaskar
All of these individuals were present at the tournament.
That was not the end of the big names involved. The six teams’ coaches included West Indies legend Sir Vivian Richards, Pakistan’s Moin Khan, Phil Simmons, Mickey Arthur, and former Indian international Venkatesh Prasad.
That was topped off by rosters of players full of international legends and stars, including:
- Indian icons Dinesh Karthik, Suresh Raina, and Robin Uthappa, all free to play franchise cricket abroad after their IPL careers ended
- Pakistan legend Shahid Afridi
- Current high profile players such as Scotland Captain George Munsey, Australian Jason Behrendorff, Colin Munro, Imran Tahir, Samit Patel, Tymal Mills, Shakib Al Hassan, Sam Billings, and others.
The tournament took place in Dallas from October 4-14 at its new dedicated grounds on the University of Texas at Dallas campus, built in partnership with the University, with the Chicago CC team emerging as champions.
Senior representatives from USA Cricket, including the Chairman, CEO, and Board Secretary, attended the tournament.
From the post-tournament reporting, three issues may have led to the subsequent loss of the NCL’s sanctioning.
Domestic minimums
The primary reason reported, and the most likely cause, was the failure to field enough domestic players on a number of occasions.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the NCL’s challenges started shortly before the tournament, when Major League Cricket reached the decision that the NCL was competitive. Less than three weeks before NCL’s launch, the MLC informed all its domestic players that participating in the NCL or the Masters T10 tournament (another T10 event which was planning its second year around the same time) would be considered a violation of their contracts.
At that point, all domestic MLC players under contract, and others hoping to be drafted in the future, chose to stay away from the NCL. The NCL was able to source some quality domestic players – such as T20 World Cup US team member Nisarg Patel and the eventual player of the tournament, Karthik Gattepalli, a 24-year old who was subsequently drafted by the LA Knight Riders in the MLC.
Still, the NCL struggled to secure a sufficient number of quality domestic players. This was apparently the root of the issue cited in NCL’s loss of sanctioning – failure to field the required seven domestic players in some matches, per the ICC’s requirements.
Player visas
In addition, cricbuzz reported that some international players were in the US on insufficient visas, though the extent to which this weighed into the ICC’s decision is not clear.
Further investigations revealed no evidence of international players entering and playing on tourist visas, but that some entered on existing valid work visas secured for other tournaments as opposed to securing new visas specific to the NCL tournament. All taxes were apparently and correctly filed for all players and officials, domestic and international and there have been no reports of player payment or tax issues.
Pitch Issues
The other major issue cited in reports – and in fact by players – was the pitch at the NCL ground. At one point, given the inconsistency of the pitch’s behavior, teams were limited to bowling only spin.
The extent to which this issue weighed into the ICC’s decision is not clear, given that the ICC itself had high profile struggles with pitch quality at the temporary Nassau stadium venue at the T20 World Cup earlier that summer.
Player perspectives
cricexec spoke to over 10 players who participated in the NCL’s inaugural tournament – five domestic and over five international – and the feedback was extremely consistent: pitch issues notwithstanding, the tournament was an extremely positive experience with special mention of how players were well taken care of, and everybody expressed a desire to continue to participate in the future.
According to Scotland’s George Munsey:
“The first season of NCL wasn’t without its challenges, but we watched the team work tirelessly to accommodate requests and adapt in a challenging new environment. Having the tournament on a university campus was also a twist that allowed us as players to see how far the game reaches across generations. The fans were engaged and displayed a deep love for the game.”
Munsey continued: “Players were paid on time, the operations were well thought out, with short travel distances and ample coordination. The players’ safety was taken into full account and the league did their best to get competitive games on. If given enough time to plan and prep this tournament has the chance to be special.”
Domestic US cricketer Gajanand Singh, former USA Men’s National team player – a star all-rounder responsible for the USA’s first century against a full member nation – who is also a former MLC player for the Los Angeles Knight Riders, struck a similar note:
“They did an amazing job of planning and executing a tournament in the short space of time they had, and it was an amazing experience for players and officials and everyone. I think everyone was very pleased with what happened at NCL. It’s a tournament that I would love to come back to year after year, because I see it getting better and better every year. The quality of players they got there was remarkable. The standard of cricket was super high.”
Singh continued about the treatment he received:
“The whole experience off the field was amazing. Firstly, we were picked up by black cars when we arrived in Texas. Someone was there waiting for us with name tags. They took care of the local players, not just the international. My hotel room wasn’t different from Dinesh Karthik’s hotel room. We all stayed in the same hotel. We didn’t have to ask for anything. Before the tournament was finished, my payment was in my bank account. Those are things that make everyone want to be a part of tournaments like this – when they treat you this well. If you needed anything, you had direct contact with the tournament director. He personally took care of a lot of things for me. His team worked very hard for that tournament.”
A second domestic player, speaking anonymously, noted the pitch issues but echoed Singh’s sentiment:
“They treated me really well. I was paid even before time. Whatever we discussed, they paid before that time. The pitches were not 100% to international standard. But the actual tournament itself, I think it has a lot of potential to grow. If the ground is improved the tournament can grow for sure.
“It was a comfortable tournament, everything was really well managed. I didn’t even have to keep track of my bag until I was ready to leave because they had people taking care of them for us the whole time. Your laundry was taken care of. All we had to do was just go play cricket. So it was really, really professional.”
GT20 Acquisition
As was recently reported, the NCL’s Canadian affiliate acquired Canada’s highest profile franchise tournament, the GT20. This was done as part of a deal with Cricket Canada.
Amjad Bajwa, President of Cricket Canada, said when announcing the deal: “Canada has long been home to a passionate and growing cricket community, and the GT20 has played a major role in bringing elite-level competition to the region. Partnering with the National Cricket League Canada will make our foundation even stronger, expand our reach, and create a more integrated North American cricket ecosystem.”
In the aftermath of that acquisition, given NCL’s growing investment and presence in the region, USA Cricket and the ICC appear to have concluded that the issues described above were rectifiable, and are reconsidering the NCL’s status as they put it on a path to reclaim its sanctioning.
Name of Author: Cricexec Staff
