The Champions League Twenty20 tournament, which has been run since '09 by the cricket boards of India, Australia and South Africa, "has been discontinued with immediate effect because of lack of interest," according to Nick Mulvenney of REUTERS. Organizers said that the '15 edition, which would have been the seventh and was scheduled for September and October, has been canceled "because of the tournament's 'limited public following.'" Board of Control for Cricket in India Secretary Anurag Thakur said, "It was a fantastic platform for players from around the world to showcase their talent and the participating teams thoroughly enjoyed the experience over the last six seasons. Unfortunately, off the field, Champions League T20 wasn't sustaining the interest of the fans as we had hoped" (REUTERS, 7/15). The AFP reported organizers announced on Wednesday that the int'l tournament "featuring the top domestic teams of the major cricket nations" is to be "scrapped after failing to excite fans." While the "glitzy IPL regularly draws sell-out crowds, the Champions League was often played to a backdrop of a few hundred spectators while the viewing figures were only a fraction of those for IPL matches." Speculation that the tournament may be canceled "had been rife over the last six months" (AFP, 7/15). The PTI reported while the scrapping of the CLT20 was "always on cards due to the poor response it generated, the Lodha Committee report was like a last straw" for the CLT20 Governing Council after Chennai Super Kings, "who are defending champions as well as one of the competitors after finishing runners-up," were suspended for two years. Thakur said, "This has been a difficult decision as the Champions League T20 provided added context to a number of domestic Twenty 20 competitions around the world such as the IPL in India, Big Bash League in Australia and South Africa's Ram Slam T20." The decision to scrap CLT20 will "also effectively mean that the BCCI and other stakeholders will find it difficult" to organize a mini-IPL, which was "being planned to fill the only vacant slot available in September." In "all likelihood, the plans for a replacement tournament would be shelved for now" (PTI, 7/15).
LEFT IN THE LURCH: In Sydney, Michael Carayannis reported the cancellation leaves Big Bash League finalists Perth Scorchers and Sydney Sixers "in the lurch." Sixers GM Dominic Remond said that he was "very disappointed." Remond: "For the players, the opportunity to perform on the world stage, against the best teams, has been a huge motivation for making the BBL final." Cricket Australia said that it is "looking at alternatives to the Twenty20 Champions League." CA GM of Operations Mike McKenna said that he was "disappointed the competition will not go ahead, but saw genuine value in the concept." McKenna: "We are committed to exploring new opportunities to deliver on the original objective of the Champions League, which was to provide further context and meaning for domestic T20 competitions around the world and opportunities for players to experience high-level competition in a different environment" (SMH, 7/15).
