Michael Vaughan To Propose FA Cup-style Twenty20 Competition
Former England captain Michael Vaughan will offer his proposal for an FA Cup-style Twenty20 competition to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) after an ECB report notes falling numbers in amateur cricket.
Vaughan’s vision of a knockout could involve the 18 first-class counties, 20 minor counties and clubs from the 26 ECB Premier Leagues. The competition would mirror the FA Cup with club sides being involved in early rounds, with the minor and first-class counties going through to play at a later stage.
Speaking in an interview with BBC Radio 5 live, Vaughan said: “I’m trying to set the ball in motion for the game of cricket to realise that we need change. The whole game needs to gel together and this is one way.”
An ECB survey published last week illustrated a 7% drop in those playing cricket at a grassroots level, with 908,000 people playing in 2013 to 844,000 in 2014.
Vaughan added: “The game’s administrators should be concerned about those participation figures. Cricket needs to get a buzz back into it. A lot of my friends play semi-pro football and all they ever talk about is the FA Cup.”
“It’s something that could be set up quite easily. It will get the amateur game closer to the professional game, get pros who aren’t in their county side back into the club system and a way of getting some cash back to the grassroots.”
