ECB warns no-deal Brexit could signal end of Kolpak cricketers in county game

An email circulated to all 18 first-class counties from the ECB states Kolpaks will not be able to play if a no-deal is completed before 2021

A no-deal Brexit this year could signal the end of Kolpak cricketers in the county game after 2020, updated guidance from the ECB has warned.

An email sent out to all 18 first-class counties from the ECB states that Kolpak cricketers will no longer be eligible to play in the UK domestically after the end of the 2020 season if a no-deal Brexit deal is completed this year, according to the Daily Mail.

The report also states that should any sort of Brexit occur before the end of next year, the same set of circumstances are likely to be exactly the same as those facing Kolpak cricketers in the event of no-deal.

Kolpak signings, alongside those players with EU passports are currently eligible to feature without counting as an overseas player, but such employment rules would both be directly affected by the United Kingdom's protracted withdrawal from the European Union.

However, while the email notes some of the various possibilities, it clearly states that if the UK crashes out of the EU on October 31 without an agreement, new Kolpak registrations would be impossible and existing deals would likely cease at the end of the 2020 season.

That would affect some established names at county level already, with the most high-profile of them including the former South Africa internationals Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Duanne Olivier, Simon Harmer and Kyle Abbott.

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