More than a century of cricket tradition will be "left behind" on Monday when the England & Wales Cricket Board proposes the introduction of a Twenty20 competition in the summer of '20 that "copies" the Indian Premier League and Big Bash, according to Nick Hoult of the London TELEGRAPH. ECB Chair Colin Graves "will ask the counties to vote in favour of a change to the board's constitution that will allow the creation of a Twenty20 league, with eight new teams based around regions instead of counties." Graves described the process as the "biggest ever undertaken by the governing body, which has gone from treating the IPL and Big Bash with suspicion to envy." Graves said, "Once the articles of association (in the ECB's constitution) have been changed, it is all systems go. ... This is the biggest thing the ECB has ever undertaken and there is still a lot to do. It is massive. I feel very confident it will get the go-ahead. I think the counties are seeing the rationale behind it all and the implications for recreational cricket are beneficial too." It is "unlikely" there will be any further details on where the teams will be based or their identities, which will be decided "once the broadcast deal for the new tournament has been negotiated" (TELEGRAPH, 3/26).
NO TURNING BACK: In London, Simon Wilde reported English cricket has "never been so immersed" in the IPL or BBL, and "given the life-changing amounts of money that the top players are securing, there can be no turning back now." The players want to play in a format that "earns them great money and enhances their skills." In a survey published last year by the Federation of Int'l Cricketers' Associations, 49.1% of respondents said that they "would reject a national contract if they were paid significantly more to be a Twenty20 freelance." It is "not only the minds of players that have been won over." ECB CEO Tom Harrison and his board "sought over recent weeks to persuade the 18 first-class counties to back their plans for a radical new tournament" with the help of data provided by FutureBrand, the agency that handled the London Olympics and the 2015 Cricket World Cup, and Two Circle, a market research company previously used by the ECB and the counties. FutureBrand is advising "where best to locate the eight teams for the new tournament and what names the teams should be given" (SUNDAY TIMES, 3/26).
