English Cricket Set For New T20 Competition

14 Sep 2016 | tshego

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A new eight-team Twenty20 competition is set to be introduced into English domestic cricket, in a bid to rival the Indian Premier League and Australia’s Big Bash League.

The decision to proceed with the proposal, one of five on the table, passed by a majority vote at Lord’s on Wednesday.

Surrey, Kent and Sussex were reportedly against the move but the counties will now take the proposal to their memberships, and the PCA to the players, before the decisive vote by the ECB board in October.

The tournament, which will take place in addition to the existing 18-team T20 Blast, could start as early as 2018.

For the first two years, the tournament will likely be broadcast by Sky and not involve England players, with a new broadcast deal yet to be agreed for 2020 onwards.

The tournament will take place at city-based Test grounds, although the new teams themselves will not necessarily feature cities in their names.

The proposal for the new competition was a result of discussions between representatives of the 18 first-class counties, players’ union the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA), and the MCC, which remains guardian of the laws and spirit of cricket.

The agreed approach is built on the game-wide strategy – Cricket Unleashed – and has been developed to broaden the sport’s appeal, provide greater financial stability for all 18 first class counties and ensure that each continues to compete in all three formats of the game.

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Colin Graves said: “We’ve all been looking at how we can use domestic T20 for an even bigger purpose, especially getting more young people to play.

“We’ve talked to each county individually about the need for change. There’s a constructive dialogue with county chairmen and chief executives, the MCC and PCA, and now agreement to move forward and further develop this approach.

“The next steps for us all, as a game, will be to extend the discussions and get valuable input from players, members and other key voices across the game.”