ECB To Review South African Influx

The England and Wales Cricket Board is to examine ‘as a matter of urgency’ the increasing number of South African players in county cricket.

The majority of South Africans playing county cricket are signed under a law which allows workers from countries with associate trade agreements with the EU to have equal employment rights.

The EU loophole – known as the ‘Kolpak’ ruling – directly accounts for the massive influx of South Africans in county cricket since 2004. Many of them have grown disenchanted with racial quotas in their own country and are keen to seek opportunities in England.

Counties are allowed to field only one official overseas player per match, but it has not been possible to enforce a limit on Kolpak players.

Instead, every time a ‘Kolpakker’ plays instead of an English qualified player, a county is effectively fined £1,100 per player per match. The money is docked from the £1m handout granted by the ECB to each county every year.
 
Explaining the system, an ECB spokesman stated: ‘The ECB policy is quite straightforward. We encourage the selection of as many England-qualified players as possible.’

But the scheme does not appear to have worked, with some counties apparently showing little interest in maximising their potential income from the ECB.

But although it caps the number of official overseas players at one, the ECB has not yet found a legal way of enforcing counties to field a minimum number of English-qualified players.

The ECB lost one legal case on 30th April, when Andrew Hall, Justin Kemp and Johan van der Wath were cleared to play in county cricket after winning appeals.