During the annual meeting of the International Cricket Council (ICC) held in Singapore, member countries unanimously called for the revival of the Men’s T20 Champions League. The ICC approved the proposal with a majority and announced that the tournament will be relaunched in a new format starting from September next year.
ICC Forms Calendar Working Group
Providing insights into the meeting, two exclusive sources revealed,
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝑪𝑪 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒑, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 2027.”
The ICC Calendar Working Group will comprise eight members, including Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg, England and Wales Cricket Board CEO Richard Gould, and the ICC’s newly appointed CEO, Sanjog Gupta. The group is expected to present its interim findings and recommendations to ICC Board Chairman Jay Shah before the end of 2025.
“Tough Decisions Needed for Cricket’s Future” – ICC CEO
ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta, speaking at the MCC’s World Cricket Connects Panel 2023 at Lord’s, stressed the importance of aligning with fan interests and market demand.
“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒂 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒖𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒅,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
“𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅.”
A Look Back at the Champions League’s History
The T20 Champions League was first introduced in 2008 and continued until 2014. However, the league was discontinued after broadcaster ESPN decided to shut it down, despite having invested nearly one billion dollars to retain the rights. This move was partly aimed at minimising financial losses after ESPN lost the broadcasting rights to the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The Champions League was a collaborative venture between Cricket Australia, the BCCI, and Cricket South Africa. Interestingly, the revenue generated through ESPN-Star’s deal helped fund the early development of Australia’s Big Bash League, which became a commercial success by 2013.
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