CPL CEO Wants T20 League Schedules Streamlined

CEO of the Caribbean Premier League, Pete Russell, is calling for a streamlining of T20 league schedules amidst the threat he sees to the league in the region.

Having voiced his concerns during the recent Caricom Regional Cricket Conference in Port of Spain, Russell repeated them on Wednesday.

Asked whether he would be concerned if another T20 tournament was run at the same time as the CPL, Russell told the Express: “It is a huge threat. If you have to compete with a league that has deeper pockets than you, then you have a real challenge.”

Russell added: “We are fortunate that we are able to play in any given month and CWI give us a clean window—so no other regional cricket is played—unlike other leagues. However, should other leagues, with deeper pockets move into our window, then it becomes a problem in terms of player availability and commercial values.”

At the Caricom Conference, the CWI chief executive recalled that when the CPL started in 2013, “there were only three leagues…There wasn’t the same pressure on tournament windows or player availability. In 2024 there’ll be 16 leagues all trying to find space in an already crowded window.”

And Russell warned that, “what is 100% guaranteed is that not all these leagues will survive and it is only a matter of time before one or two of them fail. Only leagues that are commercially viable will make it and that will always be CPL’s challenge.”

With those factors in mind, Russell is pushing for collaboration between the various leagues.

“It’s the logical way to go – because we’re all maturing, and we’re all getting to a point where we are sustainable,” Russell said. “They are generally regarded now as being part of the domestic calendar, wherever they are played. I think it is a case of, ‘OK, let’s have that group of people and say how do you figure out the schedule to the benefit of everyone?,” Russell told the ESPNcricinfo website.

“I think it’s workable. Others might think it’s not, but I just think the conversations at least need to take place, just to make sure [there’s no clash],” he added.

Russell pointed to Major League Cricket’s recently released 2024 fixture list as evidence of a shortage of “joined-up thinking” among administrators. MLC begins on July 5, and is thus set for a six-day clash with England’s Hundred tournament.

“They’ve only just come out with their schedule,” Russell told the website. “Why does it take leagues so long to put a schedule together? We have all year to figure it out.”

Tom Moffat, CEO of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) also told Cricinfo that most players wanted windows for the various leagues.

“Unless the game can come together to find a system in which the domestic leagues and international cricket can co-exist, we will end up with two separate calendars running in parallel. That will split the player employment market, given most of the leagues rely on the inclusion of international players to be successful commercially.”