Cricket: Radical proposals to be considered at International Cricket Council meeting

Mitch McClenaghan has been a Twenty20 globetrotter in recent years. Photo / Getty

At last cricket's bosses have woken up; radical proposals to curb the loss of significant talent to the domestic T20 leagues proliferating around the globe will be considered by the International Cricket Council at its meeting in Kolkata next month.

Among the ideas are:

■ Restricting players under 32 to three domestic T20 leagues a year.
■ Having regional T20 windows that leave six months of the year clear for international cricket from 2023 onwards.
■ All leagues to pay 20 percent of a player's contract value to their home board as mandatory compensation.
■ Capping the number of overseas players in each domestic T20 league.
■ Standardising conditions that guarantee player welfare and payment.

The initiative is understood to have come from the West Indies, who have been damaged by the spread of T20 competitions more than any other test-playing nation, and now England and Australia have supported the call.

It stems from a fear that international cricket is being swamped by the plethora of T20 leagues, and with more on the horizon. There's nothing new in that, but perhaps it signals the ICC — who have preferred a hands off approach to domestic cricket issues — have recognised change is needed to save the international game from losing its most important component, the best players.

Canada and the UAE are preparing to launch their T20 tournaments. The UAE version is thought to be considering up to 10 overseas players per team; Canada will require four local players in each squad, but no mandatory number in each playing XI.

What is not intended by the ICC is to diminish the established T20 leagues — which are in India, Australia, England, New Zealand, West Indies, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and South Africa — but rather set fixed times for those events to take place.

New Zealand Cricket relies heavily on limited-overs cricket for revenue and that's likely to underpin their thinking on the proposals.

One idea is to divide the cricket globe into three sections — Asia, Europe/Americas and Africa/Pacific and restrict them to two-month blocks in April/May, mid-July to mid-September, and December/January respectively.

It would give international cricket six months breathing space. But it would also mean, for example, the heavy hitters of the Indian Premier League going up against the UAE-based Pakistan Super League and the Bangladesh Premier League in one window. The West Indies are hit hard because five T20 leagues take place during their home season of October to March.

New Zealand and Australia share the same calendar territory and the Super League and Big Bash League dovetail satisfactorily. There have been Australian players in the New Zealand competition, dipping in and out as a rule; fewer New Zealanders have appeared in the BBL, mainly because the best players are then engaged in international commitments.

That said, legspinner Ish Sodhi's spectacular six-wicket haul for the Adelaide Strikers early last year opened eyes to his talents, while Mitch McClenaghan has done successful time in the BBL. The now-retired Brendon McCullum is a staple at several T20 tournaments.

Restricting players to under 32 to three tournaments could be problematic, on trade restraint grounds. One at home and two abroad is the proposal and the idea is to have players less torn between international and domestic careers.

The game's chief executives have been empowered to look into solutions which would help protect the international game.

In the last fortnight, England pair Alex Hales and Adil Rashid have confirmed they are turning their backs on red ball cricket to pursue more, and more lucrative, one-day options. Call it the thin end of a depressing wedge for cricket bosses. McClenaghan turned down a New Zealand Cricket contract to free himself to take up other opportunities.

"We have been predicting for years it will affect the bigger countries," world players' association boss Tony Irish said.

"It's good there is an awakening of interest in this globally. What cricket needs is overall structural change and global regulation. If you just let it go with no regulation, everything will move to the leagues and the traditional landscape will get weaker and weaker."

Irish said the concept of windows for T20 leagues on a regional basis pit leagues against leagues and "that's how you will get the right balance.

"We survey our members to get insight and generally they want a balance — to play internationals, traditional cricket and T20 where possible."

It is unlikely anything concrete will come out of Kolkata; but it could be the starting point of a significant change in the way world cricket works.