Global cricketers of fortune
Cricket SA’s new T20 tournament is launched in London featuring eight franchises and will include a number of international players
London — It took a throwaway line from Brendon McCullum to strip T20 cricket’s newest emperors of their clothes on Monday. "All of us are‚ sort of‚ unashamed T20 mercenaries these days‚" the former New Zealand captain said with a guilty smile as he stood on stage with some of the international players who will appear in Cricket SA’s inaugural Global T20 tournament this summer. The event was launched at a posh London hotel‚ where players‚ owners‚ administrators and media mingled and queued for selfies over lunch. McCullum was flanked by England’s Kevin Pietersen‚ and West Indians Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo — all key figures in the format’s boom in cookie cutter tournaments around the world. But they are also emblematic of T20 tournaments’ growing challenge to set themselves apart from each other. Too often, the same players pop up in the colours of hastily invented teams in leagues on which the branding paint is still wet. So it comes as no surprise that the four stars above wil...
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