English cricket's governing body has come out against proposals for a Saudi Arabian-backed T20 league that have reportedly been backed by the Australian players' union.
The Gulf state is said to be prepared to invest $US500m ($A800m) into a new competition that would feature eight teams competing across four different destinations at separate times of the year, modelled on the tennis grand slam circuit.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald Neil Maxwell, the agent of Australia captain Pat Cummins, is centrally involved as is the Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA).
But the proliferation of franchise tournaments has saturated the market, squeezing players' availability and placing strain on the international landscape.
ADVERTISEMENT
As such, the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has made it clear it would not support the initiative.
Chief executive Richard Gould told the Herald: "With the busy international calendar, a host of established franchise leagues around the world and existing concerns about player workloads, there is no scope or demand for such an idea. It's not something that we would support."
The ECB has The Hundred, its unique 100-ball format league, to protect having raised nearly $A2bn last month after stakes in the eight teams were sold off.
Other countries are also likely to object with franchise leagues running in Test nations India, Pakistan, West Indies, South Africa and Bangladesh, plus United States and United Arab Emirates, besides Australia's own Big Bash League.
The Indian Premier League is, by a distance, the biggest and the attitude of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) - which does not permit its players to perform in other franchise leagues - could be as significant as that of global governing body, the ICC, now headed by Jay Shah, who formerly had a similar role at the BCCI.
ADVERTISEMENT
One suggestion is the new league would provide an alterative financing model for a game in which more than 80 per cent of revenue is generated by India.
The ACA has backed the proposed league saying it was mandated to "pursue initiatives that benefit our members".
"The ACA's early interest in exploring this concept is motivated by a desire to develop and normalise best-practice collective bargaining and an international gender-equity pay model for male and female cricketers," the player's union was quoted in the report.
It was only a matter of time before Saudi Arabia looked at cricket given its move into other sports, usually via the $1 trillion sovereign investment fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF). A PIF subsidary, SRJ Sports Investment group, is said to be the vehicle for this initiative.
Saudi billions have already upended the world of golf with the breakaway LIV circuit, controversially won hosting rights for soccer's 2034 World Cup, bankrolled major boxing bouts in the kingdom and hosts a Formula 1 grand prix.
At the weekend the PIF's ownership of Newcastle United brought its first reward as the English club won the league cup against Liverpool at Wembley, their first domestic trophy since 1955.
with PA
