The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) CEO Richard Gould has stated that Pakistan is the second biggest contributor to T20 franchises around the world in terms of players. According to the ECB CEO, Pakistan has sent 45 players to compete in various T20 leagues in 2023.
In an interview with Cricbuzz, ECB CEO Richard Gould stated that England has been the biggest contributor to global T20 franchises in 2023, as well as ranking Pakistan second. He stated,
If you look at 2023, there were 74 English qualified men’s players that played in tournaments around the world. That by far and away means that we’re the biggest contributor to global franchises, bar none. The second-best performing nation, I think, is Pakistan with 45 players.
“We are always very pleased when our players go out, around the world playing in franchise tournaments,” Gould added.
The ECB CEO’s statement comes during a time when the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi denied NOC to key players like Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi, and Naseem Shah from participating in T20 leagues, following Pakistan’s lackluster 2024 T20 World Cup campaign.
After consultation with the players and the national selection committee, the PCB concluded that the NOCs should be denied so that the key Pakistani cricketers can focus on international duty.
Pakistan’s busy cricket schedule from August 2024 to March 2025, which includes nine ICC World Test Championship matches and the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, is why the PCB has decided to deny these requests.
Follow ProPakistani on Google News & scroll through your favourite content faster!
Support independent journalism
If you want to join us in our mission to share independent, global journalism to the world, we’d love to have you on our side. If you can, please support us on a monthly basis. It takes less than a minute to set up, and you can rest assured that you’re making a big impact every single month in support of open, independent journalism. Thank you.
