The England & Wales Cricket Board is "exploring the possibility of introducing a new limited-overs competition" to run alongside the proposed eight-team, city-based "Supercharge" Twenty20 competition, according to Elizabeth Ammon of the LONDON TIMES. ECB officials are "engaged in meetings with county members to discuss the Supercharge tournament and the restructuring of domestic cricket." One option that the governing body is looking at is "to have a knockout-style one-day competition involving the minor counties and the county players not competing in the Supercharge." There is "growing recognition" within the ECB that it "may not be possible to continue to play the County Championship during the window identified for the Supercharge" -- a four or five-week period during the school holidays -- and that cricket outside of the eight cities cannot stop for five weeks. The ECB has also admitted that the tournament may involve eight “regional” rather than “city-based” teams to allow for more than eight venues to be used -- an admission that has led to one county chair saying, "They’re clearly making it up as they go along with no answers to our questions" (LONDON TIMES, 10/17).
