A dispute between USA Cricket and Major League Cricket (MLC) organizers over sanctioning threatens to disrupt the start of the tournament scheduled for July. The dispute stems from USA Cricket’s failure to sanction MLC and Minor League Cricket (MiLC), both of which are considered significant developments for cricket in the US.

Despite this, MLC went ahead with their player draft and announced several high-profile foreign signings. The ICC has currently labeled the events as “disapproved”, causing concern for players wanting to participate in both competitions. While USA Cricket had sanctioned MiLC for 2021 and 2022, the issue with MLC remains unresolved.

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According to a statement from USA Cricket’s interim board chairman, Atul Rai, the board is concerned about the players and owners of MiLC, though the specific concerns have not been disclosed. Rai was previously a board member who had voted in favor of signing a commercial partnership with ACE in 2019, which paved the way for the MiLC tournament to go ahead in 2021 and 2022. However, Rai’s stance appears to have changed during his second term as chairman, and he may be using this dispute as a negotiating tactic to revise the terms of the original agreement.

ICC Ask Members To Hold NOC For Players After Cricket USA Appeal

This issue has been brought to the attention of the International Cricket Council (ICC), which has instructed its members to refrain from issuing NOCs to players until the matter is resolved. However, MLC Director Justin Geale does not seem too concerned with the happening and believes the tournament will take place as planned.

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“We are aware of the recent letter that the ICC sent to its membership regarding the status of MiLC and MLC. We don’t believe the letter was a warning at all, inasmuch as it was merely factual informational that the events are not yet sanctioned as the member boards need that confirmation in order to issue NOCs to the players.”

“We have been in regular communication with all concerned parties regarding the ICC sanctioning of these events for the past several weeks. These events already have the necessary sanctioning from USA Cricket under our agreement with them, and the completed ICC sanctioning applications for MiLC and MLC are presently with USA Cricket.”

“We have been assured that they will be processed in a speedy manner once received by the ICC. We believe that the recent staffing changes at USA Cricket may have contributed to any delays. However, we fully expect the events to receive complete sanctioning in the coming days, as all parties agree that MiLC and MLC are very important to the growth and development of cricket in the US.”

Despite the ongoing dispute, the organizers of MLC have announced that the tournament is still set to commence its first season on July 13, while MiLC is scheduled to start its third season on June 10. It remains to be seen how the dispute will be resolved and what impact it will have on the future of cricket in the United States.