Champions League T20: Talks are on to revive the club-based cricket tournament, says Cricket Victoria CEO

The cricket boards of India, Australia, and England are keen to revive the Champions League T20 tournament (CLT20), says Nick Cummins, the CEO of Cricket Victoria.

Cummins revealed that The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Cricket Australia (CA), and England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are in active conversations to revive the club-based competition that was last played in 2014, which was won by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

Cummins, who was talking on the sidelines of a partnership announcement between Melbourne Cricket Academy and KheloMore, said the earlier editions of the league were ahead of its time since the T20 league ecosystem wasn’t fully developed yet in most countries. “I think the Champions League was ahead of its time. The T20 landscape wasn’t mature enough at that point. I think it is (mature) now. I know that there are active conversations between CA, ECB and the BCCI about reviving the Champions League,” he said. The primary challenge to revive the league – which was played from 2009 to 2014 – is finding a window in the jam-packed cricketing calendar. That’s why Cummins reckons that we could see a women’s T20 Champions League before the men’s tournament.

“It’s just about trying to find a window to play the tournament because you’ve also got all the ICC tournaments as well. Maybe we’ll see the women’s Champions League being played first which could involve cricketers playing in the Women’s Premier League (WPL), The Hundred, and the Women’s Big Bash League.”

Three teams from India, two each from Australia and South Africa, and one team each from Pakistan, the West Indies and New Zealand had participated then in the Champions League. Out of the six editions played, CSK and Mumbai Indians won the title twice each.

Cummins said that having an intense Champions League tournament, much like football’s UEFA Champions League is the next step in the evolution of taking cricket to the global stage. “I’m constantly talking to Nick Hockley, CA CEO, for a Champions League, because I think it’s pretty important to bring that back. There are talks about it. It’s probably a question to ask Jay Shah (BCCI secretary). But certainly, from an Australian cricket perspective, we are very open to the idea,” he said.

Cummins opined there’s no better way to solve the never-ending social media debate about the best league and club in the world than to have a tournament that sees the teams competing with each other.

“We still haven’t made out which league is the best. IPL, PSL, or the Big Bash? The only way we can show that is by having the Melbourne Stars play the Karachi Kings or the Mumbai Indians. (The) Champions League is well overdue.
The idea of the Mumbai Indians playing the Melbourne Stars at the MCG would be just as exciting as India playing Australia at the MCG,” Cummins said.

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