European T20 Premier League: Steve Waugh invests in Amsterdam EPTL T20 franchise as Steve Smith & Mitch Marsh sign deals
Former Australia captain Steve Waugh is among investors in the franchise for the men’s European T20 tournament to be played by city-based teams in Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands later this year.
The six-team European T20 Premier League (ETPL) was scheduled to start in 2025, but the event was postponed due to the sales of participating franchises not being completed in time.
However, agreements have now been made with two separate investor groups from Australia and one investor group from New Zealand for three of the franchises.
One of them is managed by Waugh, who manages the Amsterdam Flames, a team backed by a consortium that includes former Australian field hockey player Jamie Dwyer and Australian businessman Tim Thomas.
The Flames have already signed Australian internationals Steve Smith and Mitch Marsh, two players from abroad.
Waugh, 60, said he was “fascinated” by the opportunity to “bring global cricket to continental Europe”.
Waugh told BBC Sport: “I’m not into the Mickey Mouse T20. This is the real deal.”
“If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t give my name or give my knowledge. The players we talked to are very willing to play in this league.”
Bollywood actor and filmmaker Abhishek Bachchan is a part owner of ETPL along with Rules Sport Tech, a private Indian company.
BBC Sport understands the franchises were sold for £11.1 million ($15 million) over a 10-year period.
The teams’ total salary budget per season will be around £1.1 million ($1.5 million) and the first tournament will start on 26 August.
The league is run in collaboration with the cricket boards of Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands.
It was approved by the International Cricket Council, which saw it as a useful basis for the wider development of cricket in Europe.
Bachchan said everything about the tournament will be “world class” “with the quality of the players participating”.
“We are all set and ready to go but the real hard work starts now,” Bachchan added.
“We have great confidence in the stakeholders among us and expect ETPL to take part in the global ecosystem of franchise tournaments.”
