According to a report, a group of “50 leading cricketers in England” may boycott the Hundred next year as a protest against the revised NOC policy, wherein the England and Wales Cricket Board will only offer NOCs for playing in a franchise tournament to those players who do not play in the domestic summer.
It was recently learned from the newspaper The Telegraph that the ECB will not issue NOCs for tournaments which take place at the same time as the English summer considering the player is on a white-ball only deal with their county.
According to the report “That includes the Pakistan Super League, which shifts to a slot concurrent with the Indian Premier League (controversially excepted from this policy) in April and May next year”.
It is rumored that the players were not entitled to NOCs from each tournament which clashes with the Vitality Blast or the Hundred.
“Next year, it also includes Major League Cricket, Canada’s Global T20 league, the Lanka Premier League, and the Caribbean Premier League among others. The list of leagues that are likely to coincide with the domestic summer is only expected to grow,” added the report.
Indeed the ECB stuck its neck out on this debate enough for the players to get back into rounds of discussion with the PCA, meeting Monday and Wednesday with the agents.
While it quoted “a group of 50 leading English cricketers”, afar from the report that they are said to be “considering a boycott” of the Hundred, it did not mention if this group includes any of those who are actually on the Test tour to New Zealand,
“It is believed that between 40 and 50 players have been involved in discussions around this already with more hoped to follow”, added. As indeed there are a substantial number of players who have played for England.
The report mentioned that the players’ opinion might change the ECB course of action regarding the sale of stakes in the eight hundred teams, since the best players would be in the league, high standards would have to be kept.
