Major dilemma for English talent

MAJOR League Cricket have targeted uncapped English players after tempting established star Jason Roy to cancel his ECB contract to play in the United States this summer.

Mail Sport can reveal Tom KohlerCadmore, who is yet to win a full cap but has featured for England Lions, was approached to participate in the inaugural MLC tournament in July.

However, Kohler-Cadmore, 28, is in the first season of a three-year contract with Somerset, and retains ambitions of playing for his country in all formats, meaning that cricket Stateside was not an option for him at this point in his career.

The 18-day competition clashes with three rounds of County Championship

fixtures and Twenty20 finals day. Others at Lions level are also understood to have been sounded out about joining the global Twenty20 circuit’s newest venture, which is fuelled by Indian Premier League investment and is set to become more lucrative in future years.

Roy’s two-year contract with Los Angeles Knight Riders is worth £300,000, highlighting why he was willing to sacrifice a third of his £58,000 incremental deal to sign up. Until last October, Roy held a full central contract but for players in their 30s, neither centrallycontracted nor automatic picks in England’s white-ball teams, the mushrooming of global T20 tournaments has presented a dilemma.

David Willey, Alex Hales and Sam Billings all opted to play for franchises rather than go on international tours last summer, due to the stark difference in remuneration, and now players a level below are facing the same kinds of decisions.

Throughout this 2023 county season, informal approaches have been made to players by companies who operate teams in different markets, sounding them out for multi-tournament deals.

One of the only problems delaying those kind of moves is that the franchise world does not yet have a suitable mechanism. As nearly all major T20 leagues feature player auctions or drafts, an organisation would either have to agree a combined salary and top-up to that amount in the event of the individual purchases tallying less, or settling for an agreed price plus all auction and draft sums.

Mike Ashley is understood to be ready to rescue cash-strapped Yorkshire from their £16millionplus debts. As first revealed by The Telegraph, the former Newcastle United owner is one of the parties set to offer the club a financial injection

Meg Lanning will miss the Australian women’s team’s defence of the Ashes next month for medical reasons. She has been replaced as captain by Alyssa Healy.