Emirates Cricket Board cancels the inaugural UAE T20X

It’s the season of the T20 leagues all around the globe. From the Big Bash League and the Pakistan Super League to the Mzansi Super League and the Indian Premier League, all the T20 leagues are like festivals in their own nations. Even the Emirates Cricket Board was set to join the long list next month with its own UAE T20X. But they have been jolted with a severe blow as its inaugural edition of the tournament has been cancelled and the announcement of the same was made on Thursday.

The League had also secured the services of some of the marquee players including Eoin Morgan, Kumar Sangakkara, Alex Hales, Andre Russell, and Shahid Afridi as their icon players. However, the major issue which the ECB and their commercial partners Opi Group were facing was that they weren’t able to find buyers for three of their franchises.

“Whilst negotiations were completed on two franchise teams, the remaining three were well advanced, it was felt that there were no longer sufficient time to close the sales process and to successfully deliver and promote a December event.” ECB said in a statement as quoted by Cricbuzz.

The statement further read, “The decision of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in July to explore potential limitations on T20 cricket leagues and player participation in them, meant that the investment in UAE T20 League had to be curtailed throughout the summer in anticipation of a decision. This further impacted the timings around commercial conversations with potential buyers.”

Players to turn up for the T10 league

Nevertheless, a few players will be travelling to the UAE to play the T10 league which is set to be played from November 23. The T20 League Chief Executive was also hopeful that the League might find a new home outside of the UAE.

“It was sad to know that we are not going to continue with this concept in the UAE, but I think T20x is a great concept,” he was quoted as saying by the National.

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