England’s white-ball players are negotiating a release from their ECB contracts in order to take up lucrative offers to play in the inaugural season. major league cricket (MLC) in the United States.
England players on full central contracts are unlikely to join the MLC this year but jason roy – which hold an incremental deal with the ECB – have confirmed plans to terminate their contract to play in the league.
In a statement, the ECB said: “England white-ball batsman Jason Roy has informed the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) that he intends to enter into a deal with Major League Cricket in the USA later this summer. ECB have agreed for him to play in the competition on the condition that he gives up the remainder of his ECB incremental contract, which has been agreed upon by both parties.
“The ECB would like to clarify that this decision will have no impact on Jason’s selection for England teams going forward. We have full faith and confidence that Jason remains committed to England cricket.”
Reece TopleyRoy’s Surrey and England team-mates are weighing up the merits of a similar move, although their decision could depend on his fitness status following shoulder surgery last month.
The MLC is scheduled to take place at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas from July 13-30 and has significant support from both India and Australia: four of the six franchises have investors who own IPL teams, while Cricket Victoria and Cricket New South Wales have a share in. the other two.
The league’s inaugural season features minor clashes with the English summer: semi-finals and final. t20 blast will take place on 15 July, while there will be two rounds of the County Championship between Finals Day and the start of the Hundred on 1 August. Hundred.
As a result, the ECB will not grant the No Objection Certificate (NOC) that enables contracted players to feature in the MLC. And while players are unlikely to negotiate a release from full white-ball contracts to play in the US, such a move would make financial sense for incremental deals.
ECB incremental contracts are worth around £66,000 per year and effectively act as top-ups to county wages. Six players have such deals for the 2022-23 contract cycle: Harry Brook, Dawid Malan, Matthew Potts, Roy, Topley and David Willey.
ESPNcricinfo understands Surrey are hoping Roy MLC will play – most likely for the LA Knight Riders – between the end of their Blast season and the start of The Hundred, and have agreed to release him from his incremental contract in order to do so. Will have to be If Surrey reach Finals Day, Roy will be available for them and will miss his MLC debut.
Roy played for Kolkata Knight Riders IPL 2023 and are understood to be in informal discussions with the franchises about the possibility of signing contracts to play for their teams in other leagues, including the MLC. His representative declined to comment.
Topley has not signed a deal to play in the MLC but is understood to be looking at his options. After leaving IPL early shoulder injuryHe had surgery last month and his contract decision will partly depend on the progress of his rehabilitation.
Topley outlined his white-ball ambitions on Surrey’s live stream last week: “If you had asked me when I was younger, I would have said I would love to play 100 Tests for England,” he said. “Now, if you asked me, [I’d say] I would love to go to IPL as much as possible. I don’t think you want to play white-ball cricket and be successful, the stigma is so bad.”
England contracts run from October to September, so requesting a release from an incremental deal at this stage of the year would cost players around £20,000. Each MLC franchise has a purse of $1.15 million (£930,000 approx) – to cover between 16 and 19 players, nine of whom could be from overseas – so any deal could be based on the loss of earnings from letting go of the England contract. Will compensate
The ECB is in the process of reforming its central contract system for the 2023-24 season to adapt to the growth of the franchise league, and any decision to drop incremental contracts will not hold against players in selection going forward.
Following other reports in various media outlets on Thursday, Roy released a statement on his social media accounts that said: “After some unwanted speculation over the past 24 hours, I wanted to clarify that I have never and have never I won’t stay away from it either.” England’.
“Representing my country as a professional cricketer remains my proudest moment. I hope to play for England for many more years, that is my priority.”
“I have had frank and supportive talks with the ECB about my participation in Major League Cricket. The ECB were happy with me playing in the competition, as long as they didn’t have to pay me for the remaining year of my contract.
“As a singles format player without a central contract, I wanted to take the opportunity to play in this competition as there is currently no scheduling conflict with England. It was my aim to play as much competitive cricket as possible as an England player benefits me.
“Just to be very clear, my priority is England cricket, especially with the World Cup so soon. It is for me, and for any player, the greatest honor to receive a cap playing for my country “
A Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo: “This is covered by the wider standard playing contract agreed by the ECB, the counties and the PCA. It is entirely at the discretion of employers whether to issue NOCs to players in-season.” goes or not.” ,
Several key T20 players have already been unveiled, including Marcus Stoinis, Quinton de Kock, Wanindu Hasaranga, Anrich Nortje and Glenn Phillips. foreign signature In the MLC, Trent Boult and Adam Zampa are expected to join them in the coming weeks.
