"ICC should think of not giving leagues to everybody" - Salman Butt
Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has pointed out how the number of franchise-based leagues has increased exponentially in recent years.
According to recent reports, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is contemplating putting a cap on the number of overseas players in the playing XIs for such leagues.
Reacting to the same, Butt stated that the apex council should instead stop sanctioning so many T20 leagues. On his YouTube channel, he remarked:
"Countries that don't even have a single team of their own and expatriates complete their teams are bound to conduct leagues filled with overseas players. Their own players aren't capable of playing because they don't meet the required standards. Instead of debating about having a cap on foreign players, the ICC should think of not giving leagues to everybody."
As reported by The Telegraph, an ICC working group has recommended that no more than four players should be allowed to feature in a team's playing XI in franchise-based leagues.
This also includes players who have retired from international cricket. International League T20, Caribbean Premier League (CPL), and Major League Cricket currently allow more than four foreign players in the playing XI.
"All the leagues cannot have the same status" - Salman Butt
Salman Butt further stated that the ICC should consider making separate tiers for leagues, suggesting that not all competitions should have the same status.
Butt emphasized that all the players shouldn't be playing in every league in the world. The 38-year-old said:
"There should be only a certain number of leagues in a year. They should fix tiers for leagues to decide which players will play where. All the leagues cannot have the same status. Every league should not be for every player."
Meanwhile, the ICC working group is also considering a rule that forces boards hosting the leagues to pay a 10% release fee to the respective boards of overseas players every season.