Former South African cricketer Graeme Smith who is the Director of Cricket for CSA has said that the Proteas players will have to be available for the national team.
The Proteas players will be unable to participate for the upcoming season of the Pakistani Super League (PSL) as NOCs have been rejected to prioritize domestic tournaments.
Graeme Smith on Sunday said that the Proteas players need to be available for the national team for the upcoming tours.
“It is true that contracted members of the proteas team had their NOCs for the Pakistan Super League refused due to the Proteas international schedule and domestic competitions which must always be prioritised,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Smith as saying.
“With an away tour to New Zealand and a home tour against Bangladesh, our contracted players have to be available for their national team duties first and foremost. The same applies with regard to our domestic franchise tournaments which will be starting up soon,” he added.
The former South African cricketer said that the NOCs will be approved only if the scheduling of the tournament does not clash with the Proteas tour.
“If and when opportunities in other international T20 tournaments arise and the timings and fixtures do not clash with our own, CSA will happily approve NOCs, as we have always done in the past,” said Smith.
The Pakistani Super League is set to begin from January 27 as the defending champions Multan Sultans will take on Karachi Kings. Karachi will host the first 15 games of the tournament from January 27 to February 7. The next half of the fixtures will be taking place in the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore from February 10 to February 27.