CSA defends lack of local ownership in new T20 Global League

“We would have loved more South African team owners,” Cricket South Africa (CSA) CEO Haroon Lorgat said after a varied mix of eight T20 Global League franchise owners was unveiled in London on Monday.

“But we positioned this as a global league, so we are open to a good spread of investors from across the world.”

Also read: South Africa’s own IPL reveals its franchise owners

The team owners come from five different countries as CSA’s desire for the bulk of the franchises to be locally-owned played second fiddle to the rewards of big overseas investment.

There are two owners each from Pakistan and India, one each from Hong Kong and Dubai, while the two teams based in Pretoria and Stellenbosch will have South African owners.

“As we set up the league, it became apparent that we needed a good spread of countries if we were going to attract investment and foreign players. Over 400 players have registered their interest in the league, 160 of them from overseas, but each squad of 17 can only have a maximum of four overseas players.

“So we are very grateful for the support we’ve received and there have already been huge enquiries about tickets.”

The eight Proteas marquee players were also allocated to their cities on Monday.

Imran Tahir will ironically be based in Port Elizabeth, the Eastern Cape Warriors being one of the few franchises he hasn’t played for.

Hashim Amla will not be based in Cape Town but edged out David Miller (Bloemfontein) for the Durban appointment.

Kagiso Rabada will stay in Johannesburg and Quinton de Kock goes to Benoni.

AB de Villiers gets Pretoria and Faf du Plessis will be based in Stellenbosch.

But the eight international marquee players still need to be allocated.

That will happen via a player auction on August 19.

And then the other 15 players in each squad will be drafted.

Despite there being no set quotas for the teams, Lorgat said the franchises will need to be cognisant of transformation imperatives.

“In terms of transformation, the league won’t be target specific, but the whole philosophy of transformation is in the prospectus and we have asked all the team owners to be very mindful of that. In the seventh year, there will be a review based on key performance indicators. We reserve the right to cancel the agreement with an owner if they don’t meet those, and transformation is part of that,” Lorgat explained.

The teams will also each need to adopt a hub, CSA’s system of providing structures to support transformation in poorer communities.

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