Blow to PSL as ECB to deny NOCs to centrally contracted players for T20 franchise league under new policy

Pakistan Super League (PSL) could be held without star English players next season as ECB’s new policy denies NOCs to centrally contracted cricketers to skip premier domestic tournaments for T20-based franchise cricket coinciding with it. Per the latest report, the T20 freelancers claim to have been blindsided by the ECB’s new policy on NOCs as they seek legal action against the board.

Though the ECB chief executive Richard Gould feels the policy was designed to ‘protect the integrity of the sport’, the top-tier T20 freelancers, the players without national contracts and on white-ball-only deals with their respective counties, are of a different opinion, feeling this policy restricts their chances of plying their trade elsewhere.

While some players reacted furiously to this new policy, which the board approved on Wednesday, the others have discussed options with the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA) and among themselves in a WhatsApp group chat.

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"The PCA's legal team is currently completing a thorough check of the implementation of the policy," Daryl Mitchell, the PCA's interim chief executive, said in a chat with ESPNcricinfo. "The PCA is continuing to source considered opinions and potential consequences of this policy from players and player representatives."

The ECB’s new policy is a response to curb the transfer of top talent drawn towards the franchise-based T20 Leagues worldwide, the most significant of which is the Major League Cricket (MLC), with the England players also featuring in Lanka Premier League (LPL), the T10 tournaments in the Cayman Islands and Zimbabwe, and also in well-established Caribbean Premier League (CPL). 

Besides, in 2025, the PSL will also be staged during the April-May window, unlike in February-March for all these years, which will again coincide with the County Championship; the ECB is unlikely to grant NOCs to players with all-format county contracts to appear in that tournament.

This new policy will, however, impact players like Jason Roy and Alex Hales, who missed parts of Blast this year to feature in the MLC and LPL, respectively. 

No harm to IPL

Though this policy restricts contracted players to skip all-format domestic tournaments for franchise-based leagues, IPL remains an exception, as promised by the ECB to the BCCI. 

Per the earlier reports, all boards have written to the BCCI, promising the availability of their players (picked in the IPL 2025 mega auction) for the complete season for the upcoming three editions. 

Meanwhile, IPL 2025 will get underway from March 14 onwards next year. 

(With inputs from agencies)