Veteran Australian bowler Peter Siddle has reportedly been banned from playing in this season’s T20 Blast due to his participation in the World Legends Pro League earlier this year.
The 41-year-old was set to represent the Notts Outlaws in the British T20 competition, which commences next month, while he was expected to be available for the entire tournament.
However, Nottinghamshire released a statement on Tuesday confirming he would no longer travel to the United Kingdom due to “personal circumstances”, with the county now searching for a replacement player.
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“We’re naturally disappointed that Peter won’t be able to join us this summer, as we were looking forward to having a player of his calibre and experience as part of our T20 squad,” Nottinghamshire Director of Cricket Mick Newell said in a statement.
“We’ll now focus our efforts on securing the services of a replacement for this summer’s competition.”
Later on Tuesday, The Daily Mail and ESPNcricinfo reported that Siddle and former England representative Samit Patel had been blocked from playing the T20 Blast due to their involvement in the recent World Legends Pro League, a competition for retired players in Goa that is not sanctioned by the BCCI.
Under ECB regulations, any cricketers involved in ‘disapproved’ tournaments are ineligible to play professionally in the United Kingdom for six months.
Siddle, who represented Australia on 89 occasions across formats from 2008-2019, is currently playing for Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League, while he is signed with the Melbourne Stars for next summer’s Big Bash League.
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