David Warner looking to skip BBL for the UAE T20 league; Adam Gilchrist expresses his concerns
David Warner looking to skip BBL: IPL franchises have started to spread their wings at a rapid pace. They bought teams in various T20 leagues outside India.
In this case, former Australia wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist expressed his concerns saying it is a dangerous sign.
Indian Premier League franchises bought all six teams in South Africa’s upcoming T20 league. KKR, Mumbai Indians, and Delhi Capitals already own teams in the UAE T20 league.
Gilchrist was speaking about the multiple reports that suggested that David Warner would opt to sign for the T20 league in the UAE.
Adam Gilchrist commented that it would be “commercial suicide” for Cricket Australia to allow their contracted players to play in the UAE or South Africa T20 Leagues that are around the same corner as the BBL in January.
“This is the big kicker, isn’t it, of possibly the step towards being contracted to club before or over country for the predominant amount of cricket you play,” Gilchrist said. “I think it would almost be commercial suicide for them to allow a player like him to go head-to-head up against their competition.”
Australian opener David Warner is considering giving his name to the new Emirates T20 League in the United Arab Emirates. With the UAE League in January, it means Warner might have to opt out of the Big Bash League (BBL) 2022-23, considered one of the biggest editions of the tournament.
Big Bash League, which lacks Australia’s best players generally due to home Test summer, has a window this season to include some local superstars while introducing a draft for the players overseas for the first time.
The January window is set to hold BBL, Emirates T20 League, CSA T20 League, and Pakistan Super League (PSL).
The Emirates T20 League has six franchises, and they are free to acquire players through a draft system and independent signings. But a player is provisioned to sign independently only if he gets a Non-Objection Certificate (NOC) from his country’s board. Warner has initiated the process, but the report suggested that he might not get the same from Cricket Australia (CA).
With a bunch of T20 superstars featuring in BBL this year, CA might not give Warner NOC.
Commenting on this situation, former Australian opener Adam Gilchrist said that CA could not force Warner to play in BBL. He also expressed his concern over the growing monopoly of IPL franchises. Gilchrist stated and referred to IPL franchises’ acquisition of teams in other leagues as ‘dangerous’. He believes that the teams might have ownership of the players and talents as to where they play or not.
“They can’t force David Warner to play in BBL, I understand that, but to let him then go off – or another player, let’s not single out Warner because there will be other players on the radar – it’s all part of this global dominance that these IPL franchises are starting to create given they own a number of teams in Caribbean Premier League,” Gilchrist stated in SEN’s Whateley radio show.
“It’s getting a little bit dangerous the grip that it’s having to monopolize that ownership and the ownership of the players and their talents and where they can and can’t play,” he continued.
After three franchises in the CPL, the IPL teams backed up their business growth. They bought three teams in the UAE league. They went on to buy all six teams in the Cricket South Africa league.
“David Warner, again using him as an example, we can’t question his commitment to Australian cricket over the years. He’s carved out one of the great careers. So if he rides off into the sunset and says, ‘sorry Australian cricket, I’m finished, I’m just going to become a gun for hire for my Indian franchise team in various tournaments, you can’t question him on that. That’s his prerogative, and he’s done everything he needs to, to get the profile and get that sort of market value. It’s the new younger player that comes in and starts to make those noises where it will be challenging.”
Adam Gilchrist gave suggestions to his country’s cricket board to take cognizance of the matter as more cricketers could take Warner’s path sooner in the future.
“It’s the new younger player coming in that starts to make those noises where it’ll be challenging,” he added.
Warner has a contract with Delhi Capitals in the IPL. The co-owners of GMR Group own the Dubai Capitals, one of the teams in the new UAE league [ILT20]. The ILT20 will take place from January 6 to February 12. The BBL will take place from December 13 to February 4.