England & Wales Cricket Board Preps For Contentious Meeting

The England & Wales Cricket Board is bracing itself for a "difficult meeting on Tuesday with players demanding answers about the lack of a proper consultation process" over the "controversial" new 100-ball tournament, according to Lawrence Booth of the London DAILY MAIL. The ECB claimed "player representatives, both men and women," had been consulted when it announced the competition last month. But it was "subsequently reported that only three cricketers had been spoken to about the plans." That has "caused resentment among county cricketers, who had expected to be taking part in a glitzy new city-based Twenty20 tournament" from '20. Amid talk of rebellion, "one prominent player," who will attend the meeting at Edgbaston but "preferred to remain anonymous," said, "We're trying to stay open-minded to a certain extent, but why mess with T20 when it works? Apparently something needs to be done to keep cricket alive and bring money in or it will dwindle and die. But surely this isn't the answer" (DAILY MAIL, 5/5).