Masters Champions League (MCL) was a

Twenty20 cricket Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single inni ...

league held in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...

and contested by former international cricketers. It consisted of six teams and the only season of the competition which took place was held in January and February 2016 and won by the Gemini Arabians. The MCL received approval for a 10 seasons from the

Emirates Cricket Board United Arab Emirates Cricket Board is the governing body of certain cricket activities in United Arab Emirates. It is United Arab Emirates's representative at the International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the ...

but faced difficulties before its first season over the status of "retired" international players who were still contracted to other domestic competitions and folded after just one season. Problems were experienced by the league with delays in player payments which almost led to players abandoning the tournament mid-season. 2016 Masters Champions League was the

tournament that took place from 28 January to 13 February 2016 in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, wikt:دبي, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates#Major cities, most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 ...

and

Sharjah Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Sharjah is the capital ...

in the

. The tournament was contested by six teams of fifteen players, all former international cricketers, with the Gemini Arabians defeating the Leo Lions in the final by 16 runs.

History

The tournament was announced by the league's CEO Zafar Shah in June 2015. The league generated some support in the

, including the official approval from the

. The company operated under the umbrella of the Grand Midwest Group.

MCL governing body

The MCL governing body included the Chief Operating Officer, Sean Morris (COO), President Abdul Rahman Falaknaz and six others including former international cricketers

Allan Border Allan Robert Border (born 27 July 1955) is an Australian cricket commentator and former international cricketer. A batsman, Border was for many years the captain of the Australian team. His playing nickname was "A.B.". He played 156 Test ma ...

and

Graham Gooch Graham Alan Gooch, (born 23 July 1953) is a former English first-class cricketer who captained Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, and through a career spanning from 1973 until 2000, ...

and businessman Zafar Shah.

Player auction

Former

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

all-rounder Jacques Kallis achieved the top bid of the player auction, joining the Libra Legends for US$175,000. Former

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

wicketkeeper-batsman

Adam Gilchrist Adam Craig Gilchrist (; born 14 November 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former international cricketer and captain of the Australia national cricket team. He was an attacking left-handed batsman and record-breaking wicket-kee ...

was the second-highest signing, purchased by the Sagittarius Strikers for $170,000. Other players with high bids included former

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

captain Paul Collingwood ($140,000),

Muttiah Muralitharan Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan ( si, මුත්තයියා මුරලිදරන්, ta, முத்தையா முரளிதரன், also spelt Muralidaran; born 1972) is a Sri Lankan cricket coach, former professional c ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

($120,000),

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

Brian Lara Brian Charles Lara, (born 2 May 1969) is a Trinidadian former international cricketer, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He topped the Test batting rankings on several occasions and holds several cricketing rec ...

($100,000) and

Brett Lee Brett Lee (born 8 November 1976) is an Australian former international cricketer, who played all three formats of the game. During his international career, Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in the world. In each of his first two ...

($100,000).

Teams

The following six franchises participated in the tournament:

Venues

Standings

* Top four teams advanced to the

semi finals SEMI is an industry association comprising companies involved in the electronics design and manufacturing supply chain. They provide equipment, materials and services for the manufacture of semiconductors, photovoltaic panels, LED and flat pan ...

Knockout phase

Semi finals

The top four teams from the group stage qualified for the semi finals. ----

Final

The winners of the two semi-finals qualified for the final:scorecard
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Statistics

Most runs

Most wickets

References

{{Twenty20 leagues , state=expanded Cricket in the United Arab Emirates Professional sports leagues in the United Arab Emirates Cricket leagues in the United Arab Emirates Sports leagues established in 2016 Organisations based in Dubai 2016 establishments in the United Arab Emirates Recurring sporting events established in 2016 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2016 Defunct cricket leagues Domestic cricket competitions in 2015–16 2016 in Emirati cricket