IPL 2021: County Championship rule forces Reece Topley not to sign for CSK and RR

A rule set by the county teams has stopped Reece Topley from featuring in the Indian Premier League 2021. This has happened because of an incident that took place in 2018 when the county teams were forced to make a rule. Topley, the tall left-arm quick from England, was approached by Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, but couldn’t sign a deal as a replacement player for the franchises. 

The franchises were looking for a replacement for their injured players. Something similar had happened in the IPL 2018, when Tom Curran, Liam Plunkett, and David Willey were signed up as the injury replacements. This left the county teams without their main players and helpless ahead of a season. 

Because of this, at the time a meeting was called by the county coaches and directors of cricket. Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket, suggested that there should be a rule for IPL teams having a cut-off until when they can sign a player from the English county circles. This year, the cut-off was set ten days after the auction. This meant when the call came from the IPL franchises, it was too late for Topley to agree to one. 

Why did Jason Roy get the Sunrisers Hyderabad deal despite the county cut-off rule?

When Josh Hazlewood pulled out of the tournament, it was Topley that CSK sought for, but ultimately ended up signing Jason Behrendorff. The same happened with the Royals when they wanted to keep someone as a backup in case Jofra Archer didn’t get fit in time. Some might wonder how then Jason Roy became a late replacement call for the SRH. 

This is because the right-handed batsman is centrally contracted to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). The rule only applies to the players who draw their main salary from their counties. The pacer said that he wanted to feature in the cash-rich league. He has previously been associated with Kolkata Knight Riders. 

“It’s unfortunate – I was really keen to go, but there’s something in place that means English county players can’t go out as replacements. Jason went but he’s contracted to the ECB, whereas I’m contracted to Surrey, and I fell under that rule. It was something I’d have liked to have done but those are the rules,” Topley was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo. 

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