Rob Walter backs New Zealand’s private T20 league, sees overseas stars as key to success

New Zealand head coach Rob Walter believes the country’s proposed privately owned T20 league could prove highly beneficial, particularly if it succeeds in attracting high-profile international players to compete in New Zealand. The new league is scheduled to launch in January 2027 and is expected to clash with several established tournaments, most notably Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL) and South Africa’s SA20.

Such scheduling overlap may affect the availability of overseas players. However, Walter feels that if New Zealand Cricket can secure some of the world’s leading T20 stars, the competition could significantly boost the domestic game. Walter speaks from experience, having overseen South Africa’s white-ball sides during the launch of the SA20 in 2023, shortly after he took charge.

“The benefit lies in if you’re able to get quality overseas professionals [in the playing XI], you essentially make your team better by four people. So you replace the four weakest cricketers with four internationally strong cricketers. So it has to make the competition stronger just by nature of that. If, for instance, the NZ20 went that way, you’d make the competition stronger,” said Walter as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

The inaugural edition of the tournament was briefly paused for a week to allow South Africa to contest a must-win ODI series against England, which was crucial for their qualification for that year’s World Cup. The second season, however, overlapped with a Test series in New Zealand. As a result, South Africa fielded a second-string side for the tour and suffered a series defeat. Despite that setback, they went on to win the World Test Championship title in the same cycle.

The SA20 has also had a direct impact on national team selection. The second season of the tournament played a key role in helping Walter finalise South Africa’s squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup, where the team reached the final. Similarly, the fourth season assisted South Africa’s all-format coach Shukri Conrad in selecting his squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup. However, Walter believes that talent identification and squad selection are not necessarily the biggest benefits of a franchise competition.

“We’ve seen the SA20 just reinvigorated cricket in the country – didn’t it, in some way? The crowds were all of a sudden massive, and domestic cricketers became household names,” Walter said.

Whether the same success can be replicated in New Zealand remains uncertain, and that is where Walter has his reservations. While he has expressed support for the country’s existing cricketing structures, he remains open-minded about potential changes.

“The New Zealand T20 competition is very strong. I think it’s undervalued from a strength point of view. But it’s also because of the mechanics of it. We have smaller crowds in New Zealand, and that is part of also the allure of New Zealand cricket, really. It’s relaxed and it’s fun and it’s enjoyable. But you don’t get those massive crowds,” said Walter.

“And that wouldn’t necessarily change if you change the competition. Obviously, the population size is small. But it would invest a greater interest in the game, potentially, because of the overseas pros that are there that make the game stronger. We know that the future will look different for the domestic competition in New Zealand. What that ends up looking like, I’m not sure at this point,” he concluded.

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