Champions League T20 set for revival after 10-year hiatus - Report

Champions League T20 set for revival after 10-year hiatus. (Photo: X)

A bigger and better second iteration of the Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) is on the horizon, according to a report of Cricbuzz. At a recent meeting held in Singapore as part of the ICC Annual Conference, members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) formally decided to bring back the competition, which features teams from various domestic Twenty20 leagues. The league might resume as early as next year if all goes as planned, the report added.

Given that many franchise owners have clubs spread across several nations, the report added that the international boards will shortly meet to discuss the league's modalities. The authorities, who are anticipated to establish a Governing Council (GC) or a Board to oversee the league, will face a key challenge in addressing this cross-team ownership arrangement.

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Determining the league's size and scope would be another major challenge for the authorities. Only a few big Test-playing countries had franchise-based competitions in place when the Champions League T20 was canceled in 2015.

After ten years, the T20 scene has undergone a significant transformation. Leagues have sprung up all over the cricketing ecosystem, and even Associate nations like the USA and UAE now host their own competitions. This trend has also been adopted by nations like Canada and Nepal. The Hundred in England is one of about eleven major franchise leagues in the world, according to the most recent count.

In addition to deciding on the distribution of clubs from the various leagues, the organizers will also have to find a window in a cramped calendar. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and its well-known Indian Premier League (IPL) are anticipated to spearhead the planned endeavor, just like in the previous edition.

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England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), which did not participate in the last league, are also anticipated to be active members along with Cricket Australia (CA). It's unclear who else will be involved; Cricket South Africa (CSA), one of CL T20's three creators, might possibly be incorporated into the framework.

After the 2014 season, the BCCI, CA, and CSA—the league's original three members—accepted a proposal from broadcaster Star Sports to dissolve the CL T20, which had been in existence since 2009. In 2015, after suffering significant financial losses, Star proposed a compensation package that was accepted by all three boards.

Thus, everything will begin where it ended. Prior to anything else, the new members will need to submit a tender to bring on a broadcaster.