Lorgat accuses Big Three of cornering ICC events

If we do nothing then that reality can arise where the leagues will simply take over. I think there is chance for international cricket to remain relevant if we structure it properly

Cricket South Africa is leaving no stone unturned as it plans to launch the T20 Global League later this year a successful venture. And at the helm of it is the Board CEO Haroon Lorgat, who wants to create an identity for the league.

“All leagues are good, IPL is phenomenal, Big Bash is doing good, CPL also. But we have to recognise that we have got domestically some of the best players. If you look at the rankings of the players, we have got No 1 in batting, bowling. So, what is different that we would like to have is the quality of cricket. We want to focus on the cricket first,” Lorgat said on Thursday. “We are very supportive of ICC with restructuring of international cricket because you got to have a structure that makes sense to the fan, a competition. Bilateral without meaning is difficult for a fan to follow. That’s what you have got to fix.

“It will depend on what we do with international cricket. If we do nothing then that reality can arise where the leagues will simply take over. I think there is chance for international cricket to remain relevant if we structure it properly and give context and meaning to it.” South Africa won’t be organising any ICC event till 2023 as they failed to comply with the government policy of having six coloured players in the starting XI, but Lorgat accused the Big Three -- India, England and Australia -of grabbing all major events.

“Every year there is an assessment and last year our assessment was not good and they (assessment committee) prevented us from hosting international events. This April was when the new report came up and it was all clear.”