England Bans players from participating in PSL and other leagues
The England Cricket Board (ECB) has banned all players under its red-ball contracts from participating in franchise leagues except IPL, including the Pakistan Super League (PSL). This strict decision was taken with the primary aim of ensuring players focus more on domestic matches.
Recently, several prominent England players skipped their domestic games to participate in lucrative franchise leagues, causing significant setbacks for the ECB. To address this issue, the board has announced that no No Objection Certificates (NOCs) will be issued to contracted players for franchise leagues if they clash with England’s domestic fixtures.
This restriction is expected to affect players like Jason Roy and Alex Hales the most, as they have prioritized franchise leagues over domestic commitments in the past. However, players under white-ball contracts may still receive opportunities to participate in franchise leagues, provided there is no scheduling conflict with England’s domestic matches.
The ECB clarified that this ban only applies when domestic matches coincide with franchise tournaments. If there are no domestic games during a franchise league, the board will grant NOCs, allowing players to participate.
ECB Executive Richard Gould stated “We need to protect the integrity of our sport and the strength of our competitions in England and Wales as well. This policy gives clarity to players and professional counties around our approach to issuing No Objection Certificates. It will enable us to strike the right balance between supporting players who want to take up opportunities to earn and gain experience, while also protecting the integrity of cricket globally, ensuring we don’t undermine our own ECB competitions, and managing the welfare of centrally contracted England players.”
In 2023, as many as 74 England players participated in global franchise tournaments—the highest number ever recorded. This growing trend prompted the ECB to take this step to maintain the integrity of its domestic competitions.
