The Wicked Cricket Column

What a great idea, let's do it. A cricketing FA Cup.

The next Adelaide Strikers match will be the Knock-Out round played on Saturday, February 1st. The team will face the winners of the
Eliminator  between the Hobart Hurricanes and Sydney Thunder (Thursday). 

The game will be shown live on BT Sport. 

www.adelaidestrikers.com.au/news/strikers-knockout-tickets/2020-01-27

Phil Salt presently lies 4th in the highest number of runs scored by the Strikers batsmen.

1. Jonathan Wells: 444
2. Jake Weatherald: 389
3. Alex Carey: 363
4. Philip Salt: 356
5. Travis Head: 196

Ho hum, by the time the new season starts Phil Salt will either be knackered or injured.
And that premise applies to a fair number of the Sussex CCC players.

Meanwhile, Will Beer may suffer from bumps and bruises falling off a ladder or wrist
sprains from too much wall papering and house painting.  



 

I say, Wickers old man, that's a jolly fine article. That'll show the blighters that we mean business. Dash it all - don't know what the world's coming to - it wasn't like this in my day. Toodle pip!

Steady on, old bean! Don't want one of those dashed Woke johnnies accusing us of class hatred. 

Kolpak Uncertainty Remains
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Finally, Britain is leaving the European Union tonight at 11pm after all the Project Fear and general hullabaloo, yet still the controversy rages over what will happen to the English county cricket Kolpaks. Back in October Telegraph journo, Tim Wigmore, wrote a feature looking at these issues. There is the expected negative bent, yet what seems likely is that, so long as there's no hard Brexit and Britain manages to secure an EU deal, little will change and Kolpaks should continue to be welcome. A hard Brexit and this may alter.

If the latter does occur then existing Kolpak players would be allowed to remain under the present terms only until the final completion date of either the end of 2020 or 2021 depending if Boris gets his way. So, if a hard Brexit does occur which seems unlikely, Wigmore says the future of Kolpaks remain in doubt. Meanwhile, to add controversy, the Cotonou Agreement – which allows citizens from 78 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries to work in the EU if they have a valid work permit – expires in February. This has yet to be renewed. For Sussex CCC the 'Kolpak situation' may have a major effect given the club’s South Africans, David Wiese and Stiaan van Zyl, are two of their best players.




If counties can no longer sign such sportsmen, the ECB is considering increasing the number of overseas players permitted from one to two in the County Championship. This is great news for Sussex given the Gillespie contacts at the Adelaide Strikers. Not only could Travis Head remain a Sussex star, but another like Alex Carey would be allowed to join. Meanwhile, Some leading Kolpaks have sought, or obtained, guarantees that, in the event of them being barred, their status would be transferred to being an overseas player, so their contracts would be unaffected. But many who have Kolpak contracts would unlikely be deemed good enough by their domestic teams to fulfil the current permitted number of overseas slots.

“Ultimately Brexit creates two major issues in sport,” said immigration lawyer Carey. “The first is the need for visas for the EU, European Economic Area and Swiss nationals in order to work as a professional sports persons in the UK following Brexit – when immigration control is brought in depends on whether we have a deal or no deal Brexit. The second is the overseas players quota in many sports including cricket. Clubs will have issues fielding players due to the quota and they may have to navigate immigration control as well.”

The problem with so much about Brexit is the continuing uncertainty until the final completion date, for no-one honestly knows, yet, how this 'Kolpak situation' will resolve itself.

www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2019/10/28/brexit-cricket-kolpak-players-left-limbo-status-likely-abolished/