County cricket’s Twenty20 competition will be split into two divisions and feature promotion and relegation for the first time "if proposals from the England & Wales Cricket Board are agreed later this month," according to Nick Hoult of the London TELEGRAPH. A consultation paper outlining an overhaul of the county game "has been circulated to the counties." The plans will be discussed with county CEOs in the last week of February before a board meeting on March 7, "when a decision is likely to be rubber stamped." There is "no mention" of franchise or city based cricket in the ECB paper, "averting a major confrontation with the counties," with this proposal for two divisions of nine teams in the Natwest T20 Blast a compromise. But if "this latest restructuring fails to draw bigger crowds for the Natwest T20 Blast then the push for an eight or ten team city based competition will become stronger." As expected, the championship "will be reduced" from 16 to 14 matches with a top division of eight teams, and a second of 10. The move to two divisions in the Natwest T20 Blast will increase the number of Twenty20 games from currently 14 per county to 16 with "sides playing each other once home and away." The proposals have the support of England Team Dir Andrew Strauss, "who believes they will help improve the standard of one-day cricket in the build up to the 2019 World Cup" (TELEGRAPH, 2/11).
