It\u2019s just trying to find a window as to when you actually play that, says Cricket Victoria CEO Nick Cummins
\n Islamabad
\nTen years after its previous edition, \u201cactive conversations\u201d are on between the cricket boards of Australia, England and India to revive the Champions League T20 (CLT20) tournament. This comes from Cricket Victoria CEO Nick Cummins, who also said the biggest challenge would be to find a window in the jampacked cricket calendar for the tournament.
\n\u201cI think the Champions League was ahead of its time. The T20 landscape wasn\u2019t mature enough at that point. I think it is now,\u201d Cummins said on the sidelines of an event in Mumbai on Tuesday. \u201cI know that there\u2019s active conversations between Cricket Australia, the ECB, and the BCCI about the Champions League.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s just trying to find a window as to when you actually play that, because you\u2019ve also got all the ICC tournaments as well. It may be that the first iteration of the Champions League will be of the women\u2026 [it may involve cricketers playing in] the WPL, the Hundred and the WBBL.\u201d
\nThe last edition of the CLT20 was held in India in 2014, with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) winning the title after defeating Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the final in Bengaluru. That edition of the tournament, then in its sixth year, involved three teams from India, two each from Australia and South Africa, and one each from Pakistan, the West Indies and New Zealand.
\nThe tournament was played annually from 2009 to 2014, four times in India and twice in South Africa. The tournament was won twice each by CSK and Mumbai Indians (MI), and once each by New South Wales and Sydney Sixers.
\nCummins said he had been in talks with Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley for the revival of the CLT20, and that BCCI secretary Jay Shah might be in a position to shed more light on the topic.
\n\u201cI\u2019m constantly talking to Nick Hockley, Cricket Australia CEO, for a Champions League, because I think it\u2019s pretty important to bring that back,\u201d Cummins said. \u201cThere are talks about it. It\u2019s probably a question to ask Jay Shah. But certainly, from an Australia cricket perspective, we are very open to the idea of the Champions League. It\u2019s just about finding a window in the FTP, but I think that\u2019s the next step in the evolution of cricket.\u201d
\nCummins drew comparisons with the club-based Champions League in football, saying that cricket needed to find a similar balance between international- and club-based competitions.
\n\u201cWe still haven\u2019t made out which league is the best. IPL, PSL or the Big Bash? The only way we can show that is by having Melbourne Stars play Karachi Kings or Mumbai Indians,\u201d Cummins said. \u201cChampions League is well overdue. Look at what Champions League does for football, the World Cup is fantastic and the Champions League is there [too] every time.
\n\u201cThe idea of Mumbai Indians playing Melbourne Stars at the MCG would be just as exciting as India playing Australia at the MCG.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s just trying to find a window as to when you actually play that, says Cricket Victoria CEO Nick Cummins Islamabad Ten years after its previous edition, \u201cactive conversations\u201d are on between the cricket boards of Australia, England and India to revive the Champions League T20 (CLT20) tournament. This comes from Cricket Victoria CEO Nick […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398173,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-398152","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n