Champions League T20 to Start Again as ECB, CA, BCCI in Talks
The BCCI, CA, and ECB are looking for a window to organise Champions League T20.
In a major update, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Cricket Australia (CA), and England Cricket Board (ECB) are currently discussing the revival of the Champions League T20, a club-based tournament that hasn’t been held since 2014.
The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) clinched victory in the final against Kolkata Knight Riders in Bengaluru, becoming the last champions of the tournament. At that time, the Champions League featured three teams from India, two from Australia and South Africa, and one each from Pakistan, the West Indies, and New Zealand.
Throughout six editions from 2009 to 2014, CSK and Mumbai Indians emerged victorious twice each in the Champions League, while Australia’s New South Wales and Sydney Sixers claimed the title once each.
There’s Active Conversation Between CA, BCCI, and ECB: Nick Cummins
Cricket Victoria CEO Nick Cummins confirmed the development, stating that finding a window in the jam-packed cricket calendar will be a massive challenge to revive Champions League Twenty20.
“I think the (earlier edition of) Champions League was ahead of its time. The T20 landscape wasn’t matured enough at that point. I think it is now. I know that there’s active conversations between CA, BCCI, and ECB about the Champions League,” he said during the announcement of its partnership with KheloMore to launch the Melbourne Cricket Academy in India.
Women’s Champions League Edition on the Horizon
There’s a proposal for a women’s edition of the Champions League as well, incorporating teams from WPL, The Hundred, and WBBL, as proposed by Nick Cummins. He also mentioned ongoing discussions with CA’s CEO Nick Hockley.
“It’s just trying to find a window as to when you actually play that, because you’ve also got all the ICC tournaments as well. It maybe (the case) that the first iteration of the Champions League will be of the women.”
“(It may involve cricketers playing in the) the WPL, the Hundred and the WBBL. I’m constantly talking to Nick Hockley, Cricket Australia CEO, for a Champions League, because I think it’s pretty important to bring that back. There are talks about it. It’s probably a question to ask Jay Shah (BCCI secretary).”
“But certainly, from an Australia cricket perspective, we are very open to the idea of the Champions League. It’s just about finding a window in the FTP, but I think that’s the next step in the evolution of cricket,” Cummins added.
