Counties Divided Over Epl Proposals

The chiefs of the English cricket counties are reported to be divided over the
idea of a English Premier League that mirrors its Indian counterpart ahead of an
annual general meeting of the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Several counties are open to the idea of a new Twenty20 league made up of a
handful of city-based franchises but there a handful that are opposed and are
looking to veto the idea.

Representatives from the 18 first-class counties will hold informal talks
ahead of the meeting.

While the EPL is not listed as an item on the agenda for the meeting at
Lord’s, it is still bound to be discussed.

Surrey chief executive Paul Sheldon has mooted the idea of the counties being
regrouped into franchises such as “Vodafone London” in the wake of the creation
of the Indian Premier League.

And Sean Morris, chief executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association,
has admitted he doubts whether an EPL made up of the existing 18 counties would
be a viable commercial proposition.

He said: ‘When you look at the broadcasting deal that will drive it and for
sponsorship partners and for fans, does playing 18 teams really stack up?’

But Somerset chief executive Richard Gould said a Twenty20 Premier League
based on franchises would set the game on a slippery slope.

‘We are hugely against regionalising – that would lead, eventually, to the
domestic game being reduced to eight regional franchises for all forms of the
game.

‘I don’t have a problem with an EPL, as long as it involves the 18 counties.
Otherwise it would drastically reduce the number of English-qualified players
available. The Test-match playing grounds might benefit, because they would host
the matches but the rest of county cricket would not.’

An ECB delegation, led by the chief executive David Collier and chairman
Giles Clarke, held exploratory discussions with Indian Premier League officials
earlier this month.

Both have vowed to protect the interests of the existing first-class
counties, but TV executives, potential sponsors and Texas-based billionaire Sir
Allen Stanford are believed to have advised that an 18-team league would not be
an attractive commercial proposition.

Last week the ECB secured £75m from Stanford for two T20 events – a series of
five matches to be played in Antigua annually between England and Stanford’s
all-stars and a four-team Twenty20 tournament at Lord’s for the next five years.