16 August 2013
Please find below a summary of the Cricket Australia Board of Directors meeting in Melbourne today.
Changes to Overseas Player definition for Australian domestic competitions
The Board has endorsed changes to the definition of an Overseas Player for Australian domestic competitions. The changes are designed to allow Australian players who have dual passports to play in more than one (ICC full member) domestic competition.
CA wants as many quality cricketers playing in its domestic competitions as possible. These changes will allow Australian players with dual passports to play first-class cricket in more than one country. A number of Australian-qualified cricketers currently playing in ECB competitions in particular are doing so as a local player, meaning if they play in Australia during the summer they need to do so as an overseas player to retain their ECB eligibility.
However, CA’s current overseas player definition prevents someone born in Australia, or holding a valid Australian passport, from qualifying to play here as an overseas player. Changes approved today will ensure state associations and BBL teams will be able recruit Australian players without them having to give up their eligibility to play overseas as a local player. It will remove the burden on these players to choose which domestic competition to play in.
Allocation of Tests in 2014-15
The Board will make a decision on the allocation of Tests for the 2014-15 season in the coming weeks. CA will make no further comment until this process is complete.
Ashes Ticket Sales
The Board received an update on tickets sales for the home international summer. Ticket sales for all matches are progressing well, especially the Commonwealth Bank Ashes Series, with sales ahead of the last Ashes series in 2010-11. A number of venues have exhausted their allocation of tickets for the first three days of the Tests.