LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) explained its stance on the T-10 league which is scheduled to be held in the UAE later this month through a press release issued late on Thursday.

The Board pointed out that the ICC has not disapproved the league. “In fact it has lent the support of its Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) to it to ensure it is free of such problems, the Sri Lanka and Bangladesh Cricket Boards are fully supporting it with one team each of their players,” the release said.

“The PCB has taken a fee of US $400,000 from the league to allow only ten of its centrally-contracted players to participate in it. This money is being spent on game development in the country.

“The PCB BoG has agreed to support the League following a firm request from the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) that is a PCB partner in critical ways by hosting PSL and PCB bilateral cricket series. The apprehensions of two PSL franchises were resolved in a meeting on the subject earlier and there is no conflict of interest or competition between a 10 over league spread over four days only in one venue and PSL spread over 34 matches and six weeks in four venues,” the press release further said.

“Players from six top cricketing national boards like England, West Indies, South Africa, etc have got NOCs to play in this league. These include Eoin Morgan, Shakib Al Hasan, Carlos Brathwaite, Dinesh Chandimal, Darren Sammy, etc. In fact, many current players from across the globe are featuring in the league which shows the PCB has released players in a competitive event.”

The PCB, in its release, pointed out a significant fact the Anti-Corruption Laws of ICC will be applicable on the league games. “This means there will be an Anti-Corruption Unit set up for the event like in any international event or league to keep an eye on players, and keep the game free of corruption. Two PCB ACU representatives will also monitor the league.”

It further explained that with the gradual return of international cricket to Pakistan, the Emirates Cricket Board has to develop its own events that can sustain its cricketing infrastructure in the UAE and events like T10 that are in no competition with PSL enable the ECB to plan their future once Pakistan cricket fully returns.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2017