Image Credit- Sportzpics
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 finalising 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.
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.