Legal action threatened by players over new ECB stance on NOCs

English cricket is embroiled in a heated dispute as T20 freelancers express frustration over what they perceive as a lack of transparency in a new ECB policy regarding No-Objection Certificates (NOCs). In response to the controversy, players have urgently called for a meeting next week to discuss the ramifications of these changes. ECB chief executive Richard Gould explains that the policy adjustments are aimed at safeguarding the integrity of the sport.

A group of England's leading T20 freelancers - players without national contracts who are on white-ball-only deals with their counties - feel the move is designed to restrict their opportunities, with a handful of them said to have reacted furiously to the new policy. They are discussing their options both with the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA), and among themselves in a WhatsApp group chat.

These could include a legal challenge, citing restraints of trade. "The PCA's legal team is currently completing a thorough check of the implementation of the policy," Daryl Mitchell, the PCA' s interim chief executive, told ESPNcricinfo. "The PCA is continuing to source considered opinions and potential consequences of this policy from players and player representatives."

The PCA was aware of potential changes in how counties and the ECB would approach the granting of NOCs, but Mitchell said there was "clear frustration at the lack of time given for consultation, discussion and debate" before the ECB published the policy on Thursday. He added that players had "strongly expressed their concerns" over elements of the new NOCs policy, including "the inconsistencies [at the way] in which players are likely to be treated."

The ECB's new policy, which was granted board approval on Wednesday, comes in response to the proliferation of new franchise leagues during the English season. The most significant among these is Major League Cricket (MLC), but English players have also featured in the Lanka Premier League (LPL), T10 competitions in Zimbabwe and the Cayman Islands, and the long-established Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

Next year, the Pakistan Super League (PSL) has shifted its usual dates and will be held in April-May, clashing with the early months of the County Championship season. The ECB's move is designed to avoid a significant talent drain away from English domestic competitions, and players with standard all-format county contracts will not be granted NOCs to play in the PSL.

Most significantly, the ECB's new approach will be to deny NOCs for any league that overlaps with the T20 Blast or the Hundred on the basis that granting them could "compromise the predictability, stability and consistency of the ECB competitions."

The move would affect players such as Jason Roy and Alex Hales, who skipped parts of the Blast in 2024 to instead feature in MLC and the LPL respectively. One UK-based player agent told ESPNcricinfo: "The problem is that everything clashes with the Blast, because it's so bloody long."

Some players feel as though the changes are designed primarily to protect the Hundred during the ongoing sales process, with the tournament's salaries seen as uncompetitive. The ECB is planning significant wage hikes in the 2026 season once deals to sell stakes in the eight teams to private investors are fully signed off, with smaller increases expected ahead of the 2025 edition.

The IPL will retain its outlier status, with the ECB continuing to issue NOCs for English players unless they are centrally contracted and having their workloads managed. Twelve England players were signed in last weekend's mega-auction, including two -- Moeen Ali and Jamie Overton -- without any form of ECB contract, while others could yet sign replacement deals.

Several players who either went unsold in the auction, such as Adil Rashid and Tymal Mills, or did not register for it, like David Willey and Dawid Malan, could instead play in the PSL, though players are awaiting details over the recruitment process for the 2025 season. These could be determined at an upcoming meeting in early December.

The ECB also intends to avoid granting NOCs in situations which it feels could compromise the integrity of overseas leagues, under their new policy. ESPNcricinfo revealed earlier this year widespread concerns around the scenarios emerging during the packed franchise calendar in February, which saw some players standing to earn more money if their teams were eliminated early than if they reached the knockout stages.

Players without England contracts must have NOCs signed off by both their primary domestic teams and the ECB. Under the new policy, the ECB will not grant an NOC if it has "any concerns that the [relevant] overseas tournament poses or may pose a risk from a corruption perspective, or may put… the integrity of the game at risk."

Gould said: "There's never been a better time to be a cricket player, with more opportunities than ever for players to compete in competitions around the globe and be well paid for it. But we need to protect the integrity of our sport and the strength of our competitions in England and Wales as well.

"This policy gives clarity to players and professional counties around our approach to issuing No-Objection Certificates. It will enable us to strike the right balance between supporting players who want to take up opportunities to earn and gain experience, while also protecting the integrity of cricket globally, ensuring we don't undermine our own ECB competitions, and managing the welfare of centrally contracted England players."

There are also concerns that several players will seek to renegotiate their county contracts as an unintended consequence of the new policy. Some players may consider moving from all-format deals to white-ball deals which contain a 'pay-as-you-play' red-ball element to them - similar to those signed by Luke Wood and Saqib Mahmood at Lancashire.