ESA T20 Cricket League

What it is

ESA T20 is a franchise Twenty20 cricket league operated by SriYentra Sports Services LLC, Dubai. It was assembled from the boards outward rather than the sponsors inward: multi-year rights agreements were signed with the Rwanda Cricket Association, Cricket Malawi and the Zambia Cricket Union before a single franchise was marketed.

That sequence is the point of difference. Associate Member cricket has no shortage of exhibition tournaments. It has very little of what the ESA T20 structure creates — a competition the national boards themselves are party to, with a defined calendar slot, a permanent home venue and contracted term.

Where and when

Season one will be played at the Gahanga International Cricket Stadium in Kigali, Rwanda. The planned window is July 2027, subject to final ICC date sanctioning approval. The sanctioning application for season one falls due by the end of March 2027.

The rights position

The market behind it

Rwanda, Zambia and Malawi together represent a combined addressable population above 58 million, in three of the faster-growing cricket markets on the continent. Rwanda in particular has built genuine cricket infrastructure over the past decade, and Kigali's stadium is the most credible venue of its kind in the region.

The league is structured around six franchises on a ten-season initial term, with a further renewal period and a transfer right for franchise owners after season five.

Coverage

• Financial Express — Building Africa's Next Cricket Economy
• Deccan Herald — T20 Is Making Cricket a Global Sport, and Africa Could Be Its Next Big Untapped Market
• RIKA TV (Kazakhstan) — on the T20 format globalising cricket