Delhi: England cricketer James Vince has accused the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) of giving preference to the Indian Premier League (IPL) over the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
James Vince retires from first-class cricket
33-year-old James Vince announced his retirement from first-class cricket last week so that he can play in the PSL. Vince was retained by Karachi Kings even before the PSL draft. But, in November 2024, the ECB decided that NOC for PSL will not be issued to players of all formats. The PSL is scheduled to be held in April-May, clashing with the opening round of the County Championship.
Vince told ESPNcricinfo, “When this issue first came up, a WhatsApp group was formed among the players and there was a lot of discussion on it. The first reaction was that this would reduce the players’ interest in red-ball cricket. It seemed that this would limit the opportunities. The players were very disappointed with this. “We did not understand some things.”
‘This decision did not seem right’
Vince is currently playing for Gulf Giants in the ILT20 tournament in UAE. This time PSL is clashing with IPL and County Championship.
He said, “This is a big reason due to which confusion has arisen among the players. There is something related to the relationship between ECB, PCB and BCCI, due to which this rule has been made. The timing of PSL is less than IPL, so if you play PSL, you miss less matches of domestic cricket. This decision did not seem right.”
James Vince, who has played 13 Tests for England, has been a part of the Hampshire team for a long time. He played 197 first-class matches for the team and captained the team 92 times. Under his captaincy, Hampshire made it to the top-3 three times consecutively.
Related News