ILT20 Chief on rescheduling of tournament to December-January: ‘Will provide the teams with the best opportunity to access a bigger pool of players'
When asked about International League T20 (ILT20) and SA T20's schedule overlapping, the Commissioner of the SA20 league, Graeme Smith, was quite vocal about his disapproval of the UAE-based league. In addition to both these, there is also the Big Bash League happening in Australia at the same time, making it difficult for the leagues to have the best access to quality players across the globe.
'We feel that the December-January window will provide the teams with the best opportunity to access a bigger pool of players,' ILT20 chief executive David White said in a statement. Unlike SA20, which follows the Indian Premier League model where a team can fill four overseas players in the playing XI in ILT20, a team can play with nine foreigners in their playing XI. Additionally, SA20 has a limit of 19 players per franchise with a minimum of 11 South Africans. However, in ILT20, two local players are the minimum requirement for a team.
Smith speaking at the captain's day press conference in Cape Town said during last season of SA20, 'We see ourselves as very different to the ILT20. We're a South African league, with a majority of South African players and our ultimate goal is to benefit South African players. We've been built up against ILT20, so it's very difficult for me to not come across like I'm bad-mouthing them, but I do feel like a league like that is not good for the game.'
'Following extensive discussions with all our stakeholders, we believe the 2 December 2025 to 4 January 2026 tournament window is ideal for the DP World International League T20 Season 4,' White said 'The ICC Men's T20 World Cup begins in early February, hence it was important for us to start and finish Season 4 well before the tournament, as it will allow the players playing both the DP World ILT20 and the T20 World Cup to prepare for national duty.
ILT20 chairman and Emirates Cricket Board vice-chairman Khalid Al Zarooni said, 'The UAE National Day is the day where we celebrate the United Arab Emirates, which is home to people from around the world, including millions of diehard cricket fans. It is a real honour for us to join the nation in the UAE National Day 2025 celebrations with the launch of the region's biggest T20 league – the DP World ILT20 Season 4 – on the same day.'
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