Kyle Abbott: All you need to know about Kolpak cricketers

However, the Kolpak rules only apply to the European Union players. Since Abbott and Rossouw have dual citizenship they are eligible to play in the European Union.

South Africa national cricket team batsman Rilee Rossouw and all-rounder Kyle Abbott’s international career got over as they allegedly singed a Kolpak deal with the England county Hampshire. Abbott let the press know about the deal at the end o the Cape Town Test which South African national cricket team won by 282 runs against Sri Lanka.

For the last two days, Cricket South Africa were trying to convince Abbott’s agent Weber-van Wyk not to sign the Kolpak deal with Hamshire. However, CSA and Abbott failed to come to any agreement.

This trend in the African cricket is very common. In 2015 after the end of the World Cup Zimbabwe wicketkeeper Brendan Taylor retired from international cricket to play county cricket in England. However, he served Zimbabwe for 11 years. (Kyle Abbott and Rilee Rossouw end their career with South Africa)

Abbott, who made his debut in 2013, left out his promising career at the South African cricket. He was an outstanding bowler for the Proteas. In the recently concluded Australia tour, he has played an integral role to win the series. However,  Rossouw, who signed a three years deal with Hampshire,  was not a regular member of the team. So he left for England for a secure deal at the county cricket to give his family a better financial security.

Abbott said, “I have signed a Kolpak agreement. It has been one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make but it is the right decision for me.” (MS Dhoni: Why the Indian limited over captain gave up captaincy!)

However, captain Faf du Plessis was hurt by Abbott’s decision, he said, “That was not the way we wanted. It was something that we didn’t expect and it was out of our control. We did get together and spoke to Kyle and tried to change his mind. Kyle had already set up what he wanted to do. Then it was just about me making sure the boys were focused on the job at hand. The boys were brilliant. Even Kyle. He wanted to make sure everything was about the team. I’m a little bit upset that Kyle couldn’t get one or two wickets. I would have liked to see him do well in his last outing.”

However, the Kolpak rules only apply to the European Union player. Since Abbott and Rossouw have dual citizenship they are eligible to play in the European Union.

Who is a Kolpak cricketer?

A player who was rejected by his country and sign a deal with a county team in the European Union, especially in England is known as Kolpak cricketer.  Even cricketers who give up their right to play for their country and sign deal with counties in England for better financial security are known as Kolpak cricketer. After signing the deal they will not be eligible to play for their countries. However, the Kolpak cricketers are eligible  to play for England national team after serving four years in county cricket.

Why cricketers take Kolpak route?

There are broadly two categories of Kolpak cricketers. One is retired and aged cricketers while another is young players who sign a Kolpak deal for better financial security over the right to play for their country. The rule of Kolpak is only eligible in the European Union. Sometimes due to disputes between players and boards, cricketers leave the country for better financial security in England.

What is Kolpak ruling?

On 8th May 2003, European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled in favour of Slovak handball player called Marcos Kolpak when it passed a judgment stating that citizens of countries which have signed European Union Agreements have the same right to work and the freedom of movement within the European Union (EU) as EU citizens. Marcos Kolpak, who was born in Czechoslovakia, represented a German second division handball team called TSV Ostringen since 1997. According to The German Handball Association’s Rule 15, member clubs were prohibited from including more than two non-EU citizens and Maros was left out by his club in 2000 as they had already included two non-EU citizens.

Players who signed Kolpak deal before?

Grant Flower, Shaun Pollock, Justin Kemp, Murray Goodwin, Charl Langeveldt, Ryan McLaren, Wavell Hinds, Martin van Jaarsveld, Tyron Henderson, Greg Smith (cricketer, born 1983), Garry Park.