James Vince, No-Objection Certificates and the PSL: Why are the ECB and county cricketers clashing over T20 leagues? | Cricket News

Hampshire’s James Vince has quit red-ball cricket for 2025 and taken up a lucrative Pakistan Super League deal, with the ECB having made it clear they are to clamp down on players pursuing franchise T20 contracts while on red-ball deals with their counties.

Vince’s move comes at a time when the ECB and county players are engaged in a dispute over the governing body’s new policy on No-Objection Certificates (NOCs).

So what are NOCs? Why the change in policy from the ECB? And who are those most affected by the move?

What is dividing the ECB and players?

Vince, along with a number of other English players, have been seeking clarity from the ECB over whether they will be granted NOCs to play in the Pakistan Super League and other T20 tournaments that are set to clash with the domestic summer.

Players are reported to have reacted furiously in late November when the ECB announced a new policy on NOCs, which chief executive Richard Gould said was designed to “defend our game”.

The new policy will see players denied NOCs for all overseas leagues that take place during the English summer, including the PSL, the Caribbean Premier League and Major League Cricket in the USA – with the notable exception of the Indian Premier League.

“We need to protect our summer,” Gould said. “When we have players under contract we want to encourage them to remain and play in our competitions.”

The Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) said at the time that they were blindsided by the policy and that their sense of “genuine collaboration” with the ECB had vanished.

There is even the threat of a legal challenge, citing restriction of trade. “The PCA’s legal team is currently completing a thorough check of the implementation of the policy,” it said in November.

Why are the ECB not allowing players to play in PSL?

While the PSL was once a popular off-season competition for English players, its move to a new slot in the calendar – April 8 to May 19 – means it now clashes with the four-day County Championship competition.

Players on white-ball contracts with their counties will be granted NOCs for competitions that do not clash with the Vitality Blast or the Hundred, but any on all-format contracts will not be.

Gould explained that the ECB’s tougher stance on NOCs has been introduced to prevent domestic competitions being “undermined” by overseas leagues, as fears grow of a watered-down domestic product should the best players be operating elsewhere.

Vince had been contracted across all formats – captaining the club in four-day and T20 cricket – until, after being retained by Karachi Kings in the PSL Draft on Monday, he switched his deal with the club to white-ball only, with that announcement following on Wednesday.

The 33-year-old, who was part of England’s World Cup-winning squad of 2019, endured a challenging 2024 on a personal level, following several attacks on his family home. As a result, his family have taken the decision to move to Dubai.

Giles White, the director of cricket at Hampshire, said: “We recognise that this announcement will be tinged with disappointment for many fans but hope everyone will join us in celebrating what [Vince] has given to our club over many years and supporting him as he fulfils his commitment to continue leading the Hawks in the 2025 Vitality Blast.”

Which players are being affected?

Somerset batter Tom Kohler-Cadmore is someone set to be impacted by the ECB’s new policy on NOCs.

With no change as of yet to his all-format county deal, the 30-year-old is currently set to miss at least the first six Championship games of the season if he is to fulfil his PSL contract with Peshawar Zalmi.

Four other English players – Tom Curran (Surrey), Chris Jordan (Surrey), Sam Billings (Kent) and David Willey (Northamptonshire) – will participate in the PSL, but without any issues due to having white-ball only deals with their respective counties.

Several recent England internationals, including Saqib Mahmood, Luke Wood and George Garton, are currently on county contracts which primarily cover white-ball cricket but also contain ‘pay-as-you-play’ options for the Championship.

If they were to be drafted in a T20 league that clashes with the domestic summer, they would not be granted NOCs unless they retired from red-ball cricket.

Six England centrally-contracted players reportedly registered themselves for the PSL Draft, but were marked as “unavailable” on a longlist sent to franchises after the ECB clarified it would not grant them NOCs.

This included Jonny Bairstow – who has not played for England since June – and Adil Rashid.

Hussain: Critical point in balance between red and white ball

Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain: “I was in Essex a few days ago and they were talking about the Vince situation and ramifications.

“He is not just a white-ball specialist – he is a very, very fine red-ball player, churning out runs for them for a very long time – and he is the captain of the club.

“I guess he is coming towards the end of his professional career, so if there is a £100,000 offer on the table from the PSL, he may go just as a freelance and do what he can.

“Do you not think the likes of West Indies, South Africa, and even New Zealand are going, ‘welcome to our world?’

“We are now just catching up to the fact that they are coming into our summer. We are going to have the America franchise [MLC] in the summer as well.

“It is just that battle between franchise white-ball cricket and red ball. Red ball costs a lot to put on even at county level.

“It is a real critical point in where the balance between red-ball cricket and white-ball cricket is at the moment.”