Pakistan, Jan. 21 -- Australian stars Glenn Maxwell and Steve Waugh have emerged among the franchise owners of a new European Twenty20 league set to launch in August, marking the latest effort to expand cricket's footprint beyond its traditional strongholds. The European T20 Premier League (ETPL), backed by the cricket boards of Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands, has been approved by the International Cricket Council after two earlier postponements.

Read More: Historic first: Italy books spot in ICC T20 World Cup 2026

The project's founders include Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan, who unveiled details of three franchises in Sydney. Bachchan said the initiative aims to foster a cricket ecosystem across mainland Europe, where the sp...