Kieron Pollard granted NOC for South Africa T20 league Ram Slam and BBL

Kieron Pollard has been granted a No Objection Certificate (NOC) as the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to participate in South Africa’s T20 league Ram Slam. The news comes as a surprise as only a few hours ago the WICB had chosen to impose a charge to release its players to overseas T20 leagues.

Pollard confirmed the development on Twitter, mentioning that he was granted the NOC for both the South Africa T20 competition as well as the Big Bash League in Australia.

According to an earlier report on ESPNCricinfo, in an email addressed to Pollard, the board had communicated that it would charge 20% of the contract fee for granting the NOC, that allows participation of its registered cricketers in these overseas leagues. This put Pollard’s participation in the league in doubts.

“This will be an amount equivalent to 20% of the player fee (as defined in the player contract) that is actually paid to the relevant player,” Michael Muirhead, WICB CEO, informed Pollard in the said email.

“In the end, it compromises the standard of the WICB’s international team and that team’s performance internationally. The primacy of international cricket is threatened. What WICB seeks is some compensation to recognise the investment made into players, an investment from which another Full Member is benefitting,” Muirhead noted in his email.

WICB has reportedly communicated this decision to various cricket boards that employ West Indian players for their domestic T20 tournaments. Cricket South Africa has rejected this proposal, putting Pollard’s participation in the tournament, starting November 11, under a cloud. The 29-year-old has a year left on his two-year contract with the Cape Cobras.

According to the Federation of International Cricketers’ Association (FICA), such an imposition equates to restraint of trade and FICA chairman Tony Irish had mentioned that the move was “legally challengeable”. The legal implications that WICB might have found itself could have prompted the board to grant the NOC and settle the issue.