Kolpak

A 2003 European Union ruling on the right of a Slovakian handball player to play in Germany had a massive impact on English county cricket. It created an opening for players from countries with trade agreements with the EU (in effect South Africa, Zimbabwe and some Caribbean countries) to bypass the limits on overseas players and sign for counties. A trickle became a flood, and by 2008 there were more than 60 Kolpak cricketers in England, causing debate and acrimony between counties, with arguments that their presence weakened English cricket.