T10 League chairman Shaji Ul Mulk re-affirms ICC and ECB support for the tournament

Alex Broun 21:20 02/10/2018
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  • Shaji Ul Mulk (r), Chairman of the T10 League, with Wasim Akram

    The chairman of the T10 League Nawab Shaji Ul Mulk confirmed the fledgling tournament has been officially sanctioned by the International Cricket Council and licensed by the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB).

    Mulk faced a packed media conference in Dubai on Tuesday, called by T10 in the wake of controversies arising since the sudden departure of Salman Iqbal, the former T10 president and part-owner, from the league.

    An upbeat Mulk fronted the conference, alongside ECB CEO and former county cricketer David East, and answered wide ranging questions for over half an hour about the tournament’s sponsorship and management arrangements.

    Mulk also spoke about his long terms plans for T10, which is set to launch its second season, featuring eight teams and some of the world’s top cricketers, in Sharjah on November 23.

    “My dream is for T10 to be in the Olympics,” he said, “Ninety minute matches. It is in the right format for the Olympics.

    “Then going forward T10 is a world class property and you’d like to take it global at the earliest. We do have plans, we’re talking to different boards.

    “T10 will not be just one property, we have a vision to take it global.”

    East, for his part, bristled at suggestions the controversy had cast a shadow over the tournament.

    “Inevitably that sort of comment is not helpful,” he said. “We’re working towards a really exciting second edition with Shaji and the league management to ensure it’s delivered very well.

    “From an ECB point of view we’re not directly involved in the organisation of the league. We license the league to T10 cricket and our role in this is purely keeping a watching brief over the regulatory side of things, which is what we‘re doing.

    “But from a development point of view, ECB’s view on this is this is an important property to be hosted here in the UAE, and to have the opportunity to develop that with T10 Cricket for the benefit of not only the people who play in it but for the wider cricket community here in the UAE, we think is really important.

    “We’re very much looking towards embedding T10 into our domestic programme in due course, that’s a work in progress.

    “There’s no question that the way T10 as a concept has been grasped here in the UAE is something we wish to embrace.”

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