There may be "very little Test cricket during August" from '20 so that England players can help "make the new eight-team T20 tournament a success," according to Elizabeth Ammon of the LONDON TIMES. The England & Wales Cricket Board is "aware that the best players need to be available for as much of the competition as possible to attract new audiences and fill stadiums." The tournament will run from July 17-Aug. 23. When the draft schedule was circulated to county execs this year, it was done so "on the basis of seven Test matches a year" and showed three Tests against Sri Lanka during that 38-day window. However, it is "likely that particular series will contain only two Tests," which could be completed by Aug. 4. The int'l summer schedule from '20 will "contain only six Test matches (and five in an Ashes year) as opposed to the current seven." The ECB's major match group, headed by Deputy Chair Ian Lovett, will "decide over the winter on the allocations for Tests, ODIs and T20s" for '20-24 as well as the locations of the teams in the new competition (LONDON TIMES, 8/9).
