Focus on visa criteria in the toughest overseas market ever

Counties have been told they have until the end of May to propose changes to the ECB's visa criteria for overseas players after a challenging off-season for directors of cricket.

Securing quality overseas players has never been more difficult for counties due to a packed domestic calendar, clashes with an increasing number of franchise leagues, and the unique challenge of a T20 World Cup in the middle of the English summer. This has led to many county teams bringing in relatively unknown foreign players this year.

Many players would not have qualified for a visa under the previous criteria, but the ECB successfully lobbied the UK Home Office for a change in 2019. While the visa criteria were previously linked exclusively to international caps, they have been opened up to include players who have played 20 T20s in a full-member country in the last three years.

While the change has created a new route for a number of overseas players to qualify for a visa to play county cricket, it has led to some unusual situations. One player's agent said:

"Some of our clients would have had opportunities to play Division One cricket in the County Championship, but they didn't qualify for a visa due to the current T20-based criteria."

Chris Tremain, the Sheffield Shield's leading wicket-taker this season, was only able to stay with Northamptonshire for a month because he has only played sporadically in the Big Bash League in recent seasons and was only eligible for a short-term 'permitted paid engagement' visa.

Other leading Sheffield Shield bowlers, including Victorian and Tasmanian seamers Fergus O'Neill and Gabe Bell, and Western Australian off-spinner Corey Rocchiccioli, are believed to be ineligible for the "international sportsman" visa used by most overseas players to travel to the UK for a county season.

Simon Cook, Kent's director of cricket, tracked South African seamer Beyers Swanepoel through the English winter but initially found he was ineligible due to insufficient T20 appearances.

Instead, Kent signed Xavier Bartlett on a multi-format deal, but after Cricket Australia gave him a central contract, they changed the terms of his NOC and prevented him from playing in the Championship. By then, Swanepoel had played enough games in the CSA T20 Challenge - South Africa's domestic competition - to qualify for a longer visa.

The ECB has an annual consultation period during which counties can propose changes to the existing criteria. The governing body has no immediate plans to change the criteria but would listen to any suggestions. These would then go to the ECB's board for approval and be submitted to the Home Office.

Any change would have to meet the Home Office's requirement that players seeking a visa should "make a significant contribution to the development of their sport at the highest level in the UK".

Kent will have four overseas seamers on their books for a short spell in June, with Bartlett arriving for the Blast to join Swanepoel, Wes Agar, and new signing Charlie Stobo, the Western Australian seamer who will be able to play thanks to a British ancestry visa. It is a reflection of an increasingly difficult overseas market for counties.