In 2024, English players are thinking about skipping as much as half of the T20 Blast group stages in order to participate in Major League Cricket (MLC) in the United States during the second season.
The 2024 season will begin on July 4 and end “by early August,” according to an announcement made by MLC last week. The schedule will be made available early in the following year. The T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the United States coincides with the start of the Blast on May 30. The group rounds conclude on July 19.
Players with central contracts were not allowed to play in the MLC by the ECB last season, and it is unlikely that the board will reverse its mind in time for this season. Los Angeles Knight Riders (LAKR) player Jason Roy was the lone player from England to play in the MLC’s first season. He arrived late since he had spent the previous day in the UK for the T20 Blast Finals Day.
MLC 2023 took place between the conclusion of the Blast on Finals Day and the beginning of the Hundred, lasting two and a half weeks. The dates don’t line up quite as nicely this year, and an extended MLC season might extend into the first week of the Hundred, which is scheduled to begin in late July.
MLC is currently finalizing its retention policies until 2024. There has been “an awful lot of interest from English players,” according to tournament director Justin Geale, who spoke with ESPNcricinfo last year. It is believed that several English players are considering participating in the competition the following year.
After his talks with MLC franchises broke down, Alex Hales participated in the Global T20 Canada last year. He is currently nearing the end of talks with his county, Nottinghamshire, over a new contract that will expire in 2024. Hales will play for them in the Blast next season, but if he accepts a lucrative offer from the MLC, he may have to miss as many as six group matches.
While it is theoretically possible for Notts to prevent Hales from participating in the MLC by refusing to release him, ESPNcricinfo is aware that they would not seek to do so. Throughout his career, he has been a member of the team, and should a scheduling conflict arise in July, he would be able to make it back for the September knockout stages.
Even the wealthiest nations would find it difficult to match the top-paid players at MLC in 2023, who were paid US$175,000 (£140,000) to participate in at least five games. These wages were collected throughout the Blast’s seven-week group stage.
Roy is anticipated to return to the Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2024 Indian Premier League. Although the club would to comment, The Cricketer claimed this week that he and Tom Curran had both accepted to new contracts with Surrey that will allow them to play in the MLC.
Cricket county directors are also concerned that until squads are announced, it would be challenging to obtain foreign players for the competition the following year due to the Blast’s conflict with the T20 World Cup. It will be much more difficult to hang on to any big names for the length of the Blast, since the knockout stages are scheduled to take place six weeks following the conclusion of the group stage.
