Cricket is now a growing spot in the world, and now cricket has been included in the Olympics too. Cricket is going to be the part of LA Olympics 2028 in T20I format. The franchise T20 leagues all around the world are growing fast with the SA20 rising as the second-best league after the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Hundred, despite being a separate format has been commercialised by ECB with fresh takeovers and partnerships. The cricket calendar now sees a lot of it being taken by the T20 franchise leagues and other windows accommodating International cricket.  Amid this, reports suggest a global Twenty20 league is in development backed by Saudi Arabia and has been devised by an influential Australian cricket figure in what could be one of the most significant developments in the game in decades. IPL 2025 Full Schedule, Free PDF Download Online: Get Fixtures, Time Table With Match Timings in IST and Venue Details of Indian Premier League Season 18.

According to the age, concept has been secretly in the works for a year and is the brainchild of Australian Neil Maxwell, the former NSW and Victoria all-rounder who manages Australian captain Pat Cummins and is a former board member of the Australian Cricketersā€™ Association and Cricket NSW. The leagueā€™s main financier would be Saudi Arabiaā€™s SRJ Sports Investments, the sports arm of the oil-rich Gulf stateā€™s $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund and they are already in conversations with the International Cricket Council (ICC) for approval.

The new global league has been developed in partnership with the Australian Cricketersā€™ Association as a new revenue stream to tackle critical issues, such as trying to preserve Test cricket as a sustainable format beyond the big three of India, Australia and England. According to sources, a consortium of investors is ready to get behind the as yet unnamed global league. Saudi Arabia would be the largest backer, with the kingdom prepared to inject $US500 million ($800 million) into the cricket start-up.

According to sources not authorised to speak publicly, the league would be played in vacant windows in the calendar between international cricket and existing nation-based T20 competitions such as the Indian Premier League and Australiaā€™s Big Bash League. The global league is currently being seen as a way to establish an alternative revenue source beyond cricketā€™s established funding model. Under that system, member nations receive income from broadcasters and ICC distributions, but it is weighted heavily in favour of the gameā€™s superpower India and to a lesser extent Australia and England, leaving small countries struggling for financial viability. Team India Players Presented With Iconic White Jackets, ICC Chairman Jay Shah Hands Champions Trophy 2025 Title to Rohit Sharma (Watch Videos).

There also has been assurance, the travelling league would complement, not take away from, domestic T20 tournaments and was meant as an avenue for world cricket to address growing issues about its future. Although all that will depend on the new ICC Chairman Jay Shah, who will also be deciding on whether Indian players would be participating in the global T20 league. His decision might play a huge role in the future of cricket and the survival of Test cricket.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 16, 2025 08:29 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).