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New Zealand are currently engaged in a six match, white-ball tour of Bangladesh. It’s a series that has flown somewhat under the radar, however, as headlines are dominated by the booming return of the IPL and other franchise leagues. Match coverage inevitably is drawn to cricket’s most popular competition, and with the PSL in full swing, a handful of limited overs games are not what attracts eyes. One inescapable fact, however, is that the Black Caps are in fact playing this series without a host of key players who are away at the IPL.
- Dynamic, destructive opening duo-Finn Allen and Tim Seifert (both with the Kolkata Knight Riders)
- Veteran gloveman Devon Conway (Islamabad United in the PSL)
- Right armed pacer Jacob Duffy (IPL reigning champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru)
- Promising young seamer Zak Foulkes and the more experienced Matt Henry (both at the Chennai Super Kings)
- Powerful hitting allrounder Rachin Ravindra (joining Allen and Seifert at KKR)
- Top order batter Glenn Phillips (featuring for the Gujarat Titans)
- Experienced fast bowler Lockie Ferguson (with the Punjab Kings)
- Bowler Adam Milne, who has a combined total of 106 NZ appearances (Rajasthan Royals)
- Swing bowler Kevin Jamieson (at the Delhi Capitals)
- NZ legend Daryl Mitchell, who averages nearly 60 in ODI cricket (featuring with Rawalpindiz in the PSL)
This is a shocking amount of cricketers who are prioritising the IPL or the PSL and the money it brings over their countries. I have listed twelve above, but there are more, and even more shockingly, every single one of those players can be counted as veterans and players who would easily feature had they chosen to represent their country against Bangladesh. Perhaps the most surprising, however, is Mitchell Santner. Even New Zealand’s white-ball captain is choosing the IPL and the Mumbai Indians ahead of his nation.
Left to right-New Zealand’s captain Mitchell Santner, opener Finn Allen and pace bowler Jacob Duffy all featuring for their respective IPL teams.
This reflects a serious and worrying trend in cricket. Franchise leagues, especially the IPL, are starting to dominate the sport. Franchise teams are able to offer more money to players and coaches than ever before, and as the sport continues to grow, this will only continue. There is already a clear trend shown by West Indian cricketers that the IPL and other franchise leagues, like the SA20 and the MLC, are prioritised ahead of national team commitments. Now it seems New Zealanders are taking the same path. As things stand, the richer, more powerful cricketing boards like the ECB and CA are able to still keep their best players, as the central contracts they offer are big enough to even outweigh the IPL’s. However, poorer and less influential boards enjoy no such luxuries, and have to make do.
That said, the IPL’s effect is even being felt by the ECB. Already, the County Championship season and domestic white-ball tournaments are being pushed further and further back, being more and more side-lined to accommodate for the start of the IPL, a competition that is only getting longer and larger.
Over the last four years, the IPL has grown from 60 matches per season and eight teams, to 74 matches per season and ten teams. As the IPL grows, more top level cricketers flock to play for the biggest rewards. As a result, players such as Jacob Bethell, Jofra Archer and Jordan Cox, who are all away currently at the IPL, will go into the English Test season having played little to no red-ball cricket. The absence of such glamourous names at County matches also contributes to the growing disinterest in England’s domestic First Class competition. There are signs of life, however. Two of England’s premier names – Ben Duckett and white-ball captain Harry Brook – have both forgone IPL contracts at great personal cost, in order to prioritise playing for England. However, as franchise cricket continues to grow, and as the IPL gets larger and richer, it will undoubtedly become more and more of a struggle for international teams to secure their best players’ services ahead of franchise teams. As the line gets increasingly thin, and when push comes to shove, it will be very interesting to see whether players put their countries or their wallets first.
Australian all-rounder Cameron Green featuring for the Kolkata Knight Riders. Green recently became the most expensive foreign player ever at the IPL 2026 mega auction, signed for a mouth watering £2.09 million.
That said, I am looking at this purely from a fan perspective. For me, cricket represents many different things, but for these players, cricket is a livelihood. As an England supporter, I can sit and bemoan that Jacob Bethell is not honing his red-ball skills more with Warwickshire. I can’t claim that I would do the same, however, were I in his shoes. An IPL contract represents an incredible sum of money, as well as an exciting opportunity to live in a foreign country. Cricket, and T20 cricket in particular, is an immensely fickle game. So much revolves around form, confidence and fitness. One bad injury, on or off the field, can change the entire trajectory of your career. As can a spell of bad games. When IPL, SA20, MLC, CPL or PSL contracts come around, you have no way of knowing whether you will get a chance at another one. So whilst all the points about how franchise cricket, and the IPL in particular, is having huge ripple effects, and predominantly negative ones, on domestic and international teams, are still very much valid, it is very easy to understand, and very hard to condemn, why cricketers take franchise contracts. There are many different stances, but whichever way you look at it, money talks…and cricket listens. The only real unanswered question is…what does the future hold?
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed.
