Follow UsJames Vince is not happy with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) favouring Indian Premier League (IPL) over Pakistan Super League (PSL). Last week, the English batter opted to take a break from red-ball cricket to feature in the upcoming season of PSL.
Karachi Kings retained Vince as a diamond pick, but his participation in the competition was doubtful owing to the ECB’s revised policy, which said that it wouldn’t grant a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to players who held a red-ball contract with their state.
The board did, however, make it clear that it would grant NOCs to players who held a white-ball-only contract, provided that the league they’re seeking NOC for does not clash with the T20 Blast or The Hundred. Therefore, to make himself eligible for the NOC, Vince stepped down as Hampshire’s red-ball skipper and moved to a white-ball-only contract with the state.
“When they first mentioned it, a WhatsApp group of players was created, and there was a lot of discussion. The initial feeling was that it was going to drive people away from red-ball cricket,” Vince told ESPNCricinfo.
“It felt like it was going to limit opportunities. Players were frustrated by it… There were a few things in there that [we] didn’t really understand. That’s a big one that has caused a lot of confusion. It’s got to be something to do with relationships between the ECB, PCB and BCCI as to why they’ve come up with that rule.
“The PSL’s a shorter competition, so if you’re going to play in that, you’re probably missing less domestic cricket than if you’re going to the IPL… It just didn’t seem right.”
This year’s PSL is set to clash with IPL. Vince, who has more than 13,000 runs in 216 first-class games, there will be more players who will let go of their red-ball contracts in the near future.
“There’s more and more opportunities for guys to play white-ball cricket and earn decent money during our domestic season… You’re talking quite large sums of money in terms of what they forego by playing red-ball cricket. Particularly further down their careers, when there’s a big difference in those numbers, I’m sure more and more people will go down that route.”