Franchise Cricket

Timothy Abraham
BBC Sport Journalist

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The Caribbean Premier League hope to add a new team from the United States to its women's tournament within the next two years.

CPL chief executive Pete Russell has made it a strategic priority to expand the women's T20 franchise competition from three teams to four in the near future.

BBC Sport understands the CPL want to bring the plan to fruition for the 2026 edition, which is set to be held in Barbados, and will to engage the relevant stakeholders over the next 11 months.

Should ongoing governance issues involving USA Cricket delay that process then CPL officials are confident they can deliver it the following year.

The plans are still at an early stage but it is anticipated an American team would mirror existing women's CPL rules with only four overseas players and the rest made up of USA-qualified players.

Such a step would also provide valuable exposure for some of the USA's national team players before cricket's return to the Olympic Games at Los Angeles in 2028.

A men's team from the USA are set to automatically qualify for LA 2028, but the International Cricket Council (ICC) are yet to decide whether a women's team will be included amid concerns over their competitiveness.

The USA's women's T20 team are ranked 25th in the world and have never qualified for a major ICC event.

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West Indies duo Nicholas Pooran and Kieron Pollard have been signed as wildcards by MI Emirates in the International League T20.

Pooran scored 301 runs at an average of 37.62 last season and Pollard added 182 runs at 45.50.

The pair were part of the MI squad that won their first title in 2024.

Pollard, 38, is the second-highest run-scorer in T20 history and is 325 runs behind compatriot Chris Gayle.

There are 10 group games in the tournament or Pollard to close on, or surpass, Gayle.

The ILT20 has been brought forward because of the T20 World Cup in February and will take place between 2 December and 4 January.

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Shai Hope has signed for SA20 side Pretoria Capitals, replacing England all-rounder Will Jacks.

The West Indies batter will be playing in the SA20 for the first time but again links up with the Capitals having previously played for both Delhi in the IPL and Dubai in the ILT20.

In his one ILT20 season with the Capitals earlier this year, the 31-year-old scored a tournament-high 527 runs at an average of 59 to lead the franchise to their first title.

He is currently playing for West Indies on their white-ball tour of Bangladesh.

Jacks has been ruled out of the SA20 after being named in England's Test squad for this winter's tour of Australia.

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Australia seamer Tayla Vlaeminck has been ruled out of her fourth consecutive Women's Big Bash League having failed to recover from a injury to her right shoulder.

Vlaeminck has not played since she sustained the injury while fielding at the T20 World Cup in October last year.

The 26-year-old, who has represented her country on 29 occasions since 2018, has had a series of injuries through her career, including twice dislocating her left shoulder, foot stress fractures and two ACL reconstructions.

She is yet to represent her WBBL side Melbourne Renegades since signing for them in 2022, but was retained on Cricket Australia's contract list earlier this year.

"I'm obviously a little bit shattered about missing out," said Vlaeminck.

"Unfortunately my shoulder's just not loving bowling at the moment. I think we were hoping that my shoulder would probably respond a little bit better to bowling than it has.

"We lined up Big Bash to be that sort of end point. We sat pretty nice there [at] that year mark, and just in the last four weeks trying to ramp that up it just hasn't responded the way thought it would."

The WBBL starts on 9 November and runs to 13 December, with Renegades the defending champions having won the 10th edition of the competition last year.

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Jon Lewis has left his role as Trent Rockets women's head coach after three years in charge of The Hundred side.

Having been appointed ahead of the 2023 campaign, the 55-year-old former Durham men's captain and coach oversaw 11 Rockets wins in total but narrowly missed out on the knockout stages in each of his three seasons at the helm.

After a fourth-placed finish in his first campaign, the Rockets were fifth the following year but missed out on the top three by a point, before coming fourth again in 2025.

"It's been a great experience coaching the Rockets and I've loved my time at Trent Bridge, so it's tough to be moving on, especially with the new possibilities for The Hundred next summer," Lewis said.

"I wish everyone the best for 2026 and beyond, and hopefully I'll have the opportunity to return to Trent Bridge in one form or another in the future!"

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England all-rounder Liam Dawson and World Cup winners James Vince and Alex Hales were all drafted for the Abu Dhabi T10 League on Saturday.

Dawson, 35, was signed by new franchise Royal Champs, while Vince returns to Delhi Bulls and Hales joins Ajman Titans.

Hales is joined by Essex's Luc Benkenstein and Lancashire's Tom Aspinwall at the new side, while Nottinghamshire's Joe Clarke was added as an optional player. He could cover if someone is unavailable for part of the tournament or sign as a replacement.

Top-order batter Vince, who scored 214 runs in 10 innings last season, is joined by Sussex's James Coles and Nottinghamshire's Tom Moores at the Bulls.

Defending champions Deccan Gladiators picked up seamers Richard Gleeson, Jake Ball and Jordan Thompson, while George Scrimshaw joins Quetta Qavalry, Matty Hurst was signed by Aspin Stallions and Sean Dickson went to Vista Riders.

Australia's Chris Green (Titans), West Indies' Sherfane Rutherford (Stallions), Fabien Allen and Evin Lewis (both Qavalry) and Sri Lanka's Dilshan Madushanka (Riders) were also signed.

England's Phil Salt, Liam Livingstone, Jason Roy, Chris Jordan, Moeen Ali were among the players pre-signed, alongside West Indies' Nicholas Pooran and Australia's Tim David and 45-year-old India spinner Harbhajan Singh.

The tournament in the United Arab Emirates is due to take place between 18 and 30 November.

• Full Abu Dhabi T10 League squad lists, external

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England World Cup winners Jason Roy and Chris Jordan have been signed by Royal Champs in the Abu Dhabi T10 League.

Top-order batter Roy, 35, has played for three sides previously in the tournament, scoring 413 runs in 16 innings.

All-rounder Jordan, 37, has also represented three other sides and has taken 24 wickets in 26 games.

They are joined at the new franchise, who will coached by Courtney Walsh, by Sri Lanka duo Angelo Mathews and Niroshan Dickwella, Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan, Australia's Daniel Sams and United Arab Emirates' Rahul Chopra as direct signings.

Elsewhere on Thursday, returning side Northern Warriors named West Indies duo Shimron Hetmyer and Johnson Charles, New Zealand pair Trent Boult and Colin Munro and Sri Lanka's Thisara Perera as their direct signings.

Vista Riders, who are one of five new teams, announced South Africa's Faf Du Plessis and Dwaine Pretorius, Australia's Matthew Wade, India's S Sreesanth and Unmukt Chand, Sri Lanka's Bhanuka Rajapaksa and United Arab Emirates' Harshit Kaushik.

The eight-team tournament in the United Arab Emirates is due to take place between 18 and 30 November.

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Former New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has joined Indian Premier League franchise Lucknow Super Giants as a strategic advisor.

Williamson, 35, played for Durban Super Giants, who are part of the same ownership group which also includes Manchester Originals, in this year's SA20.

He has not played for Lucknow, currently coached by former Australia opener Justin Langer, in the IPL but is a veteran of 10 seasons in the competition.

Williamson, who played for London Spirit in this year's Hundred, signed a casual playing agreement for 2025-26 with New Zealand rather than a full central contract, which allows him greater flexibility over his international schedule.

He will miss the T20 series against England which begins on Sunday but is in the squad for the one-day internationals which follow.

In announcing the appointment, Super Giants owner Sanjiv Goenka said: "Kane has been a part of the Super Giants family and it's an absolute delight to welcome him in his new role as strategic advisor.

"His leadership, strategic insight, deep understanding of the game, and ability to inspire players make him an invaluable addition to the team."

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England batter Phil Salt has signed for Delhi Bulls in the Abu Dhabi T10 League.

Salt, 29, is currently ranked second in the T20 batter world rankings and the right-hander is the only Englishman to have more than one international T20 century.

He hit his fourth - the second-most behind Rohit Sharma and Glenn Maxwell's five in internationals - against South Africa in September.

Salt had previously played for three other sides in the 10-over competition and has scored 709 runs in 33 innings.

He is joined by West Indies trio Rovman Powell, Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine, while Australia batter Tim David, Pakistan's Salman Irshad and United Arab Emirates' Mohammad Rohid round off Bulls' direct signings.

The eight-team tournament in the United Arab Emirates is due to take place between 18 and 30 November.

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White-ball superstar Nicholas Pooran will return to defending champions Deccan Gladiators in the Abu Dhabi T10 League, but there was no Jos Buttler among their direct signings.

Pooran, 30, is the second-highest run-scorer in the tournament's history with 1,438 and captained Gladiators to the title in 2024.

Buttler, 35, played in the tournament for the first time last year, and impressed with an average of 60.50.

Pooran was joined by Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis, West Indies duo Andre Russell and Akeal Hosein, English batter Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Pakistan's Usman Tariq and United Arab Emirates' Ibrar Ahmad as Gladiator's direct signings.

Kohler-Cadmore is the highest run-scorer in the tournament's history with 1,502.

The eight-team tournament in the United Arab Emirates is due to take place between 18 and 30 November.

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Legendary India spinner Harbhajan Singh, who turned 45 in July, has signed for Aspin Stallions in the Abu Dhabi T10 League.

Harbhajan last played an official T20 in the Indian Premier League in 2021, but has played for India Champions in the past two editions of the World Championship of Legends.

He took 25 wickets in 28 T20s for India, with his last game in 2016, and he claimed 150 wickets in 163 IPL games.

England wicketkeeper Sam Billings, who has captained Oval Invincibles to three successive Hundred titles, and left-arm seamer Tymal Mills have also signed for Stallions, who are a new franchise for 2025.

West Indies batter Andre Fletcher, Sri Lanka duo Avishka Fernando and Binura Fernando and United Arab Emirates' Zohair Iqbal round off Stallions' direct signings.

Stallions are one of five new sides alongside Vista Riders, Ajman Titans, Royal Champs and Ajman Titans and they will join defending champions Gladiators, Delhi Bulls and Northern Warriors in the ninth season.

The tournament in the United Arab Emirates is due to take place between 18 and 30 November.

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Former England all-rounder Moeen Ali and South Africa batter Rilee Rossouw have signed for Ajman Titans in the Abu Dhabi T10 League.

Moeen, 38, has played from Team Abu Dhabi in previous editions, while Rossouw, 36, scored 131 runs for Deccan Gladiators last year.

They are joined by ex-India spinner Piyush Chawla, England batters Dan Lawrence and Will Smeed, Australia quick Jason Behrendorff and United Arab Emirates' Alishan Sharafu as the direct signings at the new team.

Lawrence averaged 30.75 for Chennai Braves last season, while Smeed has previously played for Gladiators.

Titans are one of five new sides alongside Vista Riders, Aspin Stallions, Royal Champs and Ajman Titans and they will join defending champions Gladiators, Delhi Bulls and Northern Warriors in the ninth season.

The tournament in the United Arab Emirates is due to take place between 18 and 30 November.

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England all-rounder Liam Livingstone has signed as an icon player for Quetta Qavalry in the Abu Dhabi T10 League.

Livingstone, 32, played for Bangla Tigers in last year's tournament, scoring 61 runs and taking one wicket in seven games.

He will be joined by West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder, Pakistan seamer Mohammad Amir, Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza, United States wicketkeeper Andries Gous, South Africa spinner Imran Tahir and United Arab Emirates captain Muhammad Waseem as the new franchise's direct signings.

Qavalry are one of five new teams alongside Vista Riders, Aspin Stallions, Royal Champs and Ajman Titans.

They will join defending champions Deccan Gladiators, Delhi Bulls and Northern Warriors in the ninth season.

The tournament in the United Arab Emirates is due to take place between 18 and 30 November.