Kevin Pietersen: International cricket is dying because of franchises – here’s how to save it

Former England international says players should join what he calls ‘super clubs’

Kevin Pietersen has criticised the “mad” state of cricket, warning: “International cricket is on its way out” and unveiling a plan to save the game that would include players being contracted to ‘Super Clubs’ playing in multiple leagues.
A special report by Telegraph Sport highlighted the many issues facing cricket, such as its saturated schedule, players earning more money from losing, allowing them to move to other leagues and fears around corruption.
“If you add in all international cricket, it’s hard to see how it all works,” Pietersen said on X, while sharing a graphic from Telegraph Sport. “International cricket is on its way out … losing its stature. Sad but true.”
Pietersen, who played in 104 Tests and thrived in the Indian Premier League and other franchise tournaments, insisted that players are not to blame for the game’s plight and called on administrators to create a more coherent game.
At the heart of Pietersen’s plans is for players to join what he called ‘super clubs’ – most likely Indian Premier League franchises who own teams in a number of different domestic leagues. Venky Mysore, the chief executive of Indian Premier League side Kolkata Knight Riders, previously told Telegraph Sport that contracting players for 12 months per year, for a range of teams, “would be nirvana”.
“Players in a few years will be playing for one ‘super club’,” Pietersen predicted. “A Super Club is a club that owns a team in 5/6 leagues across the year.” He said that super clubs would enable fans to feel connection with teams throughout the year.
Pietersen also said a separate governing body should be created to govern the T20 landscape.
“A separate governing body HAS TO be set up to govern this,” he wrote. “Governing body can protect players from being called mercenaries through smart scheduling and building the global leagues.”
Telegraph Sport’s special report highlighted a belief that there will eventually be a ‘stacking’ of leagues, with multiple competitions played at the same time, but with a distinct hierarchy. Pietersen suggested that T20 cricket would come to emulate football, with “tiers of leagues”.
He believes that, eventually, the top tier of leagues will encompass Australia’s Big Bash, the SA20, the Indian Premier League, a UK league (such as the Hundred), a US league (such as Major League Cricket) with a further IPL season following later in the year.
Below the top tier of leagues, Pietersen envisages a second tier of tournaments, highlighting UAE’s ILT20 league, the Pakistan Super League, another UK league (such as the Twenty20 Blast), the Caribbean Premier League, a smaller Indian league and competitions in New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.