LONDON, JAN 21: Former Australia captain Steve Waugh is seeking to conquer cricket's "last great frontier" as one of the investors in a new European T20 franchise competition set to feature Steve Smith and Mitchell Marsh.
Organisers of the city-based European T20 Premier League (ETPL), co-founded by Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan, on Wednesday announced the owners of its first three franchises in Amsterdam, Edinburgh and Belfast.
Amsterdam will be owned by a group led by Waugh while Edinburgh will be owned by former New Zealand internationals Nathan McCullum and Kyle Mills.
Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, a global T20 star, is one of the owners of the Belfast team.
It is expected that deals for the remaining franchises in Dublin, Glasgow and Rotterdam will be completed by the end of February.
The six-team competition was planned to be launched in 2025 but was postponed and is expected to start in late August.
Waugh, 60, said the Amsterdam Flames had already signed Australia great Smith and Marsh, who is Australia's T20 captain.
Former Australia skipper Waugh, who scored nearly 11,000 Test runs, said the opportunity to invest in the venture "stood out because it is driven by aspiration and long-term thinking".
"In many ways, it marks a return to the game for me, but in a very different role," he said.
"This is about helping uphold the standards and spirit of cricket while supporting its growth into Europe, which remains the game's last great frontier." "AFP
