Overseas club cricketers face league bans after audit

A crackdown by nan England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) connected overseas amateur cricketers has perchance near hundreds ineligible to play for their teams astatine a captious constituent successful nan season.

Every summer, cricket clubs passim England and Wales motion up players from crossed nan globe to fortify their sides successful recreational leagues.

Many of these players are unpaid amateurs simply coming complete for nan acquisition and participate nan United Kingdom connected modular visitant aliases student visas.

However, BBC Sport understands a caller ECB audit of its subordinate registration database has thrown up discrepancies which contravene visa regulations defined by nan Home Office.

Approximately 1,700 players - men and women - were flagged by nan audit and a important number of imaginable breaches person been discovered.

The consequence is that immoderate overseas players will beryllium banned for captious matches arsenic nan play reaches nan business end, perchance missing important games which find convention titles arsenic good arsenic promotion and relegation.

The ECB are presently moving done a database of those affected and contacting them directly.

A number of cases are said to subordinate to players who person entered nan state connected student aliases modular visitant visas but would successful truth beryllium considered a 'professional sportsperson' according to Home Office criteria.

The Home Office defines a master sportsperson arsenic personification who "has represented their federation aliases nationalist squad wrong nan erstwhile 2 years, including each younker and improvement property groups from under-17s upwards".

It intends that immoderate subordinate who has played a T20 world for an Associate Member of nan International Cricket Council (ICC) successful nan past 2 years is classed arsenic a professional.

From 1 January 2019, each matches betwixt ICC members person been fixed afloat T20 world status.

However, galore of those who play for Associate nations extracurricular nan top-20 T20 sides successful nan men's crippled person ne'er been paid to play cricket and nan aforesaid applies to astir of those extracurricular nan top-16 of nan women's game.

In what appears to beryllium a broader tightening up of their obligations to nan Home Office, nan ECB person besides passed connected a database of names of those deemed to person perchance breached nan position of their visa.

Earlier this summer, nan ECB published a redrafted type of its Home Office Immigration Rules for Cricket Overview pinch notes circulated to region boards for distribution to clubs.

An ECB spokesperson said: "As a governing assemblage we are expected to support migration compliance wrong nan sport, truthful registered players from nan recreational crippled are captured wrong nan yearly audit.

"These are players who are not usually resident successful nan UK and will beryllium present nether various introduction permissions.

"As these are migration rules, nan ECB has nary powerfulness to 'clear' a player. We person a work to study immoderate breaches aliases imaginable migration breaches to nan Home Office, and would interaction nan nine to make them alert and explicate why."

The ECB has mostly near it up to region boards, leagues and clubs themselves to enforce eligibility successful nan past.

It is understood this year, however, ECB unit person personally contacted a number of players urging them to extremity playing convention cricket.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "Immigration brings galore benefits to nan UK, but it must beryllium controlled and delivered done a adjacent system.

"We expect sports governing bodies to guarantee each players wrong their remit are compliant pinch their visa conditions and nan wider migration system. This includes an appraisal of those who suffice arsenic master sportspeople."

BBC Sport has contacted respective players known to person been affected by nan existent crackdown but nary wished to remark for fearfulness of further recriminations relating to their visas.

One subordinate who whitethorn person fallen foul of nan rules, had they been implemented past summer, is Brazil world Luiz Henrique Morais, who entered nan UK connected a modular visitant visa and spent 3 months playing for Bolney CC successful nan Sussex League.

Morais, 22, had ne'er played thing longer than a T20 lucifer and only ever connected artificial pitches earlier he came to England successful 2023.

"Cricket is overmuch much than a game; it is an look of culture, history and community," he said.

"Preventing athletes from experiencing thing truthful transformative and acquisition would beryllium a nonaccomplishment for each of us, arsenic athletics has nan unsocial and powerful expertise to span cultures and grow horizons."

Cricket Brasil president Matt Featherstone , who besides sits connected nan ICC governance committee, said it would beryllium a "real disappointment" for galore Associate Members if their players were incapable to play nine cricket successful England aliases Wales successful nan future.

"Only a fistful of Associates play elite cricket. This is thing which needs to beryllium looked astatine successful much item by nan Home Office."

Bolney chairperson James Flower felt cricket's authorities should beryllium "doing everything they can" to promote nan Home Office to revise its definition.

"They are not master sportspersons. They’re young men and women trying to make their measurement successful a athletics which has very constricted vulnerability successful their ain countries," Flower said.

"Luizinho played successful a assortment of games astatine different standards, helped overgarment our scoreboard and coach our juniors. With wide information successful cricket connected nan diminution - surely we want to promote arsenic galore nations to return it up arsenic possible?"