India, Jan. 22 -- The European T20 Premier League (ETPL) on Wednesday announced Australian cricket stars Steve Waugh and Glenn Maxwell along with hockey legend Jamie Dwyer as franchise owners of the tournament, which is scheduled to roll out later this year. The ETPL, a global multi-country franchise league backed by the cricket boards of the Netherlands (KNCB), Ireland (CI) and Scotland (CS) and co-founded by Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan, has been approved by the ICC.

The league, launched last year but set to take off only later this year, will be a six-team competition, involving 34 matches. The ETPL announced the names of the owners of its first three franchises - Amsterdam, Edinburgh and Belfast. The tournament is scheduled to be...