The inaugural edition of the Euro T20 Slam, scheduled for late August to mid-September 2019, has been cancelled.

Several South Africans, including the Glasgow Giants’ Dale Steyn, Amsterdam Knights’ Imran Tahir and Belfast Titans’ JP Duminy, were due to play in the tournament.

‘The board, funding partners and franchise owners of this exciting new T20 tournament have reluctantly come to this decision. Staging the event will not be possible in 2019,’ reads a statement from the tournament organisers.

‘We want to ensure that the inaugural staging of the Slam provides the best springboard to making this a truly flagship event on the global cricket calendar.

‘As such, we believe the right course of action is to postpone the Slam to a further date. This will give us the necessary breathing space to ensure we are ready to go.

‘We will work with the three cricket boards, our principal investors, the franchise owners, players and other stakeholders within the game to ensure we fulfill any commitments we have made to the extent possible. We want to ensure the goodwill and integrity that we have built up rolls on into 2020.’

South African duo Robbie Frylinck and Corbin Bosch were going to play for the Dublin Chiefs. Wicketkeeper-batsman Heinrich Klaasen and all-rounder JJ Smuts had been recruited by the Giants.

Wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi and all-rounder Dwaine Pretorious were going to represent the Edinburgh Rocks. Former Proteas Herschelle Gibbs and Lance Klusener were going to coach the Rotterdam Rhinos and Giants, respectively.

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