The International Cricket Council (ICC) has formed a committee to oversee the management of franchise cricket.
The committee was formed at the ICC Board Meeting held over the past weekend in Ahmedabad, on the sidelines of the IPL 2026 final.
Representatives of all member boards attended the meeting, with some of them joining virtually. This meeting was originally to be conducted in Doha towards the end of March, but had to be postponed due to the war in West Asia.
IPL springs franchise cricket revolution
Since the BCCI introduced the Indian Premier League in 2008, every other cricketing country has established a league of its own.
Now, the franchise leagues have mostly come into direct conflict with international cricket, except for the IPL. This situation has gotten many stakeholders worried about the future of international cricket.
With franchise leagues mushrooming in every part of the world, more and more players are choosing the financially lucrative option of playing in these leagues rather than being consistently available for their countries.
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New ICC Committee to “harmonize” the franchise calendar
In a statement released by the ICC to the press, the board said that the new committee would work on making sure that franchise and international cricket can co-exist.
“The Board expressed concern regarding the growing expanse of franchise cricket and resolved to form a committee to assess harmonisation of franchise cricket with the international calendar within the current structure,” the statement said.
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