Former New Zealand batsman David Whitewho served as chief executive of New Zealand Cricket for more than a decade, is now CEO English: ILT20which earlier this year became the first T20 league run by the Association to be granted List A status by Constitutional CourtDP World’s third season T20 International League will take place from January 11 to February 9, 2025. The month-long tournament will feature 34 matches across three UAE cricket venues – Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.
During his visit to Mumbai, White spoke to TOI in an exclusive interview on various topics:
We’ve had two seasons of ILT20. What do you plan to do in season three that will be new and exciting for the fans, in terms of player strength and star power?
I think first of all, if we go from Season 1 to Season 2, I joined on September 1st last year. So, I came in quite late and our immediate focus was to grow the viewership because I think in Season 1, the viewership was low. So, what was pleasing was that we had a 300% increase in viewership, so we had 200,000 people for last year, including 25,000 in the final. So, that was positive. But for Season 3, our main focus is to work more closely with our commercial partners. Specifically, our broadcaster (Zee Entertainment) and we have had about a month, we have had discussions about planning and working in more collaboration to make sure that collectively. With the expectation of ending up with franchise teams so that we can grow the league. So I think that is our main focus is to take a more collective approach to grow there. So, we are doing that now and we will go into more detail about that soon, but I just tried to give you the general idea and then from a cricket perspective, you have seen the retention with that, and on September 15, we will be announcing new players. And I am happy to say that we have a lot of good players, most of the well-known players have international T20 experience and English Premier League experience. So, we’re going to announce it on September 15th, so I think we’re in a pretty good position.
Can we see someone like Shikha Dhawanwho just announced his retirement from playing in IPLT20 next season?
Yes. I think there has been some enquiry into that. But that’s only happened in the last 24 hours. So, I haven’t had any reports of that, but there’s certainly interest. But we don’t know whether he’s going to continue playing cricket at that standard or not, but as soon as we heard the news we started an enquiry, but so far we haven’t got any further information. We’re just trying to find out whether he’s retired from cricket completely or not. I’m not going to hide that there’s interest, of course.
One of the big issues with this league is the clash with CSA 20. Have you tried to work it out with Cricket South Africa (CSA)?
This year, we are limited. The window is very limited by the ICC Champions Trophy because the Champions Trophy starts 10 days after the ILT20 ends. And the reason we pushed it back a week is because of the Champions Trophy and especially because of the possibility, not certainty, that the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) could be used or the UAE could be used as a stand-in for the Champions Trophy, if not all of the Champions Trophy is played in Pakistan, so no decision has been made yet. But that is an alternative if all of the games are not played in Pakistan.
So, in terms of the future, ideally my personal view is that having some free time for ourselves would be perfect and that is something that we are looking into in the future. And that could possibly extend a little bit further into February-March. There is a possibility. And if that happens, then DP World ILT20 would end before the start of IPL, but there is a possibility that it would have a time that is not overlapping at all.
That BCCI has a policy that only retired players can participate in foreign leagues. Are you interested in having Indian players participate in your league?
I think we have to make it clear that this is a high-profile international tournament. Shikhar Dhawan is different, he still has international quality. We don’t want this to be a legends tournament. This is not a legends tournament. This is a high-standard international team, nine international players, all of them from the current IPL or international class, the majority of them are promising young players. So, this is not a retirement tournament at all. This is a high-level tournament. In fact, after the first two seasons of our proper league, a few guys who played with us have gone on to the IPL. Two very interesting examples are (Australia opener) Jake Fraser McGurk, who played last year, went on to the IPL and the most recent one is (England wicketkeeper-batsman) Jamie Smith.
He made a hundred in the Test (against Sri Lanka) a few days ago. He played there (ILT20) last year as well. So, while we want international players or current IPL players, it is also an opportunity for aspiring players to come out as promising players and make their name known. So, it is a great opportunity. Some of the young players from the UAE have really come out and played well. It is a great opportunity for established and promising players. I really want to emphasise that this is a high-quality tournament for current international and IPL players.
There are obviously a lot of IPL franchises in ILT20 as a team owner. That must be a different experience for you, coming from New Zealand?
No, I have been CEO of New Zealand Cricket for 12 years. I have dealt with the BCCI and a lot of Indians. I am used to dealing with Indian companies and it is very enjoyable. We are very fortunate to have three very well-known IPL teams as owners, as well as having the Glazer family (Desert Vipers) who are part owners.
Do you want to increase the number of teams at ILT20?
Now, what we want to do is consolidate and really make sure that the franchise teams are sustainable, economically stable and develop their own fan base. I think that’s really important over the next few years. So, this is just short term and logically you think in the long term that there is a natural potential for expansion, but not in the short term.
Are you expecting a bigger audience next season?
So, what we have talked about and planned for next year is, 34 games in 30 days is a lot, and especially when you have the limited space in Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. But we want to focus on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, when the big crowds can come. But it is very important that it is shown well on TV, the league. We don’t want it to look like an empty stadium. So, what we have done in Dubai is that for the opening game, there will be a big crowd. A big opening and then after that we take the upper tier, we cover it with pictures of the players and stuff. So the lower tier, because it is a big stadium, about 25,000 people. So, we will always have that. It will always look good on TV, which is very important.
Does the league help produce players for the UAE national team?
We have 60,000 registered players with our cricket board. They are official players, not just street cricketers. A lot of people play cricket in labour camps and so on and you know we have a very interesting and diverse population with players from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Afghanistan, Australia, South Africa and England as well. So that is very important and we use ILT20 to promote cricket in the UAE as well. And that is a key part of our high performance programme. So for the UAE cricket team, I think, last year they qualified for the T20 Asia Cup for the first time in a few years and I think that is because of ILT20 where a number of UAE players played very well. So, that plays a key role in the high performance of the UAE, because we are unique. We are not a full member nation like Australia, South Africa and England, where they have big leagues. That (developing local players) is very important for us.
How has your experience been so far since joining last year?
It’s fun, it’s exciting and it’s challenging. But I think from a global perspective, the potential in the UAE is huge and I think in the years to come, looking at the future development of world cricket, I think you can have a very important annual ICC event. And why is that important? Because it helps fund the member council. I think that’s very important for the future and funding of the game. Then, of course, there’s the IPL. I think underneath that there will be three to five other big leagues, which will form over time, and I think those leagues will be based on the economy and have an economically stable environment. The beauty of the UAE is that we have a big, strong economic environment. There’s a lot of wealth in the UAE. And also a great time zone. We’re close to India, the powerhouse of cricket, and we’re very fortunate to have a great long-term broadcast agreement with Zee. That gives us real stability as does our agreement. With DP World, we’ve got the conference, so that gives us stability and a great platform to go forward. And on top of that, the fact that we can have nine overseas players really gives us an international flavour.
The main criticism of these leagues is that they are detrimental to international cricket, that players want to play in franchise-based T20 leagues, and not for their country…
Well, that’s the balance, isn’t it? You know, that’s the balance that the international game is going to solve. But you know, cricketers have never been better off. If you’re a player, you’ve never had a time where you can play international cricket and play in these T20 leagues. That’s fantastic for the players.
Now, even New Zealand Cricket has player contracts that take into account the participation of players in these T20 leagues. NZC, your former employers, have drafted these contracts called casual contracts. Someone like Devon Conway has signed them.
I think in the next two to three years, there will be a lot of changes as the game evolves. But as I said before, I think you can have an annual ICC event that is very important to the global game, because that money will fund the board.
During his visit to Mumbai, White spoke to TOI in an exclusive interview on various topics:
We’ve had two seasons of ILT20. What do you plan to do in season three that will be new and exciting for the fans, in terms of player strength and star power?
I think first of all, if we go from Season 1 to Season 2, I joined on September 1st last year. So, I came in quite late and our immediate focus was to grow the viewership because I think in Season 1, the viewership was low. So, what was pleasing was that we had a 300% increase in viewership, so we had 200,000 people for last year, including 25,000 in the final. So, that was positive. But for Season 3, our main focus is to work more closely with our commercial partners. Specifically, our broadcaster (Zee Entertainment) and we have had about a month, we have had discussions about planning and working in more collaboration to make sure that collectively. With the expectation of ending up with franchise teams so that we can grow the league. So I think that is our main focus is to take a more collective approach to grow there. So, we are doing that now and we will go into more detail about that soon, but I just tried to give you the general idea and then from a cricket perspective, you have seen the retention with that, and on September 15, we will be announcing new players. And I am happy to say that we have a lot of good players, most of the well-known players have international T20 experience and English Premier League experience. So, we’re going to announce it on September 15th, so I think we’re in a pretty good position.
Can we see someone like Shikha Dhawanwho just announced his retirement from playing in IPLT20 next season?
Yes. I think there has been some enquiry into that. But that’s only happened in the last 24 hours. So, I haven’t had any reports of that, but there’s certainly interest. But we don’t know whether he’s going to continue playing cricket at that standard or not, but as soon as we heard the news we started an enquiry, but so far we haven’t got any further information. We’re just trying to find out whether he’s retired from cricket completely or not. I’m not going to hide that there’s interest, of course.
One of the big issues with this league is the clash with CSA 20. Have you tried to work it out with Cricket South Africa (CSA)?
This year, we are limited. The window is very limited by the ICC Champions Trophy because the Champions Trophy starts 10 days after the ILT20 ends. And the reason we pushed it back a week is because of the Champions Trophy and especially because of the possibility, not certainty, that the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) could be used or the UAE could be used as a stand-in for the Champions Trophy, if not all of the Champions Trophy is played in Pakistan, so no decision has been made yet. But that is an alternative if all of the games are not played in Pakistan.
So, in terms of the future, ideally my personal view is that having some free time for ourselves would be perfect and that is something that we are looking into in the future. And that could possibly extend a little bit further into February-March. There is a possibility. And if that happens, then DP World ILT20 would end before the start of IPL, but there is a possibility that it would have a time that is not overlapping at all.
That BCCI has a policy that only retired players can participate in foreign leagues. Are you interested in having Indian players participate in your league?
I think we have to make it clear that this is a high-profile international tournament. Shikhar Dhawan is different, he still has international quality. We don’t want this to be a legends tournament. This is not a legends tournament. This is a high-standard international team, nine international players, all of them from the current IPL or international class, the majority of them are promising young players. So, this is not a retirement tournament at all. This is a high-level tournament. In fact, after the first two seasons of our proper league, a few guys who played with us have gone on to the IPL. Two very interesting examples are (Australia opener) Jake Fraser McGurk, who played last year, went on to the IPL and the most recent one is (England wicketkeeper-batsman) Jamie Smith.
He made a hundred in the Test (against Sri Lanka) a few days ago. He played there (ILT20) last year as well. So, while we want international players or current IPL players, it is also an opportunity for aspiring players to come out as promising players and make their name known. So, it is a great opportunity. Some of the young players from the UAE have really come out and played well. It is a great opportunity for established and promising players. I really want to emphasise that this is a high-quality tournament for current international and IPL players.
There are obviously a lot of IPL franchises in ILT20 as a team owner. That must be a different experience for you, coming from New Zealand?
No, I have been CEO of New Zealand Cricket for 12 years. I have dealt with the BCCI and a lot of Indians. I am used to dealing with Indian companies and it is very enjoyable. We are very fortunate to have three very well-known IPL teams as owners, as well as having the Glazer family (Desert Vipers) who are part owners.
Do you want to increase the number of teams at ILT20?
Now, what we want to do is consolidate and really make sure that the franchise teams are sustainable, economically stable and develop their own fan base. I think that’s really important over the next few years. So, this is just short term and logically you think in the long term that there is a natural potential for expansion, but not in the short term.
Are you expecting a bigger audience next season?
So, what we have talked about and planned for next year is, 34 games in 30 days is a lot, and especially when you have the limited space in Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. But we want to focus on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, when the big crowds can come. But it is very important that it is shown well on TV, the league. We don’t want it to look like an empty stadium. So, what we have done in Dubai is that for the opening game, there will be a big crowd. A big opening and then after that we take the upper tier, we cover it with pictures of the players and stuff. So the lower tier, because it is a big stadium, about 25,000 people. So, we will always have that. It will always look good on TV, which is very important.
Does the league help produce players for the UAE national team?
We have 60,000 registered players with our cricket board. They are official players, not just street cricketers. A lot of people play cricket in labour camps and so on and you know we have a very interesting and diverse population with players from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Afghanistan, Australia, South Africa and England as well. So that is very important and we use ILT20 to promote cricket in the UAE as well. And that is a key part of our high performance programme. So for the UAE cricket team, I think, last year they qualified for the T20 Asia Cup for the first time in a few years and I think that is because of ILT20 where a number of UAE players played very well. So, that plays a key role in the high performance of the UAE, because we are unique. We are not a full member nation like Australia, South Africa and England, where they have big leagues. That (developing local players) is very important for us.
How has your experience been so far since joining last year?
It’s fun, it’s exciting and it’s challenging. But I think from a global perspective, the potential in the UAE is huge and I think in the years to come, looking at the future development of world cricket, I think you can have a very important annual ICC event. And why is that important? Because it helps fund the member council. I think that’s very important for the future and funding of the game. Then, of course, there’s the IPL. I think underneath that there will be three to five other big leagues, which will form over time, and I think those leagues will be based on the economy and have an economically stable environment. The beauty of the UAE is that we have a big, strong economic environment. There’s a lot of wealth in the UAE. And also a great time zone. We’re close to India, the powerhouse of cricket, and we’re very fortunate to have a great long-term broadcast agreement with Zee. That gives us real stability as does our agreement. With DP World, we’ve got the conference, so that gives us stability and a great platform to go forward. And on top of that, the fact that we can have nine overseas players really gives us an international flavour.
The main criticism of these leagues is that they are detrimental to international cricket, that players want to play in franchise-based T20 leagues, and not for their country…
Well, that’s the balance, isn’t it? You know, that’s the balance that the international game is going to solve. But you know, cricketers have never been better off. If you’re a player, you’ve never had a time where you can play international cricket and play in these T20 leagues. That’s fantastic for the players.
Now, even New Zealand Cricket has player contracts that take into account the participation of players in these T20 leagues. NZC, your former employers, have drafted these contracts called casual contracts. Someone like Devon Conway has signed them.
I think in the next two to three years, there will be a lot of changes as the game evolves. But as I said before, I think you can have an annual ICC event that is very important to the global game, because that money will fund the board.
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