England's Twenty20 plans fuel county fears

Source: Agencies  |   2008-7-13  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

ENGLISH cricket is braced for a civil war after plans for a multimillion-pound Twenty20 league were leaked to the British media.

The plan, drawn up by MCC Chief Executive Keith Bradshaw and Surrey Chairman David Stewart, would see the creation of a nine-team league that excludes the remaining county sides.

Dubbed the "New T20," it will be based on the Indian Premier League, with teams participating in a 25-day contest to be held in the middle of the domestic season.

Teams would be based at the nine international venues in England, with "icon players" such as Hampshire's Kevin Pietersen allocated to each side.

Bradshaw and Stewart claim the competition could generate up to 85 million pounds a year (US$169 million) through television rights, corporate sponsorship and match-day revenue. An unspecified amount of this money would be used to compensate the excluded sides.

Although the scheme came from Bradshaw and Stewart, both members of the England and Wales Cricket Board's management committee, the news was a surprise to ECB Chairman Giles Clarke.

"It is not a document I have been involved with in the slightest," Clarke said. "Quite a lot of it is not necessarily going to receive a welcome from me. History and tradition is something only a fool breaks asunder."

Bradshaw and Stewart consulted the MCC, Surrey, Hampshire and Lancashire in drawing up their proposals. The response from the excluded counties was hostile.

"Our initial reaction is that we would be completely against this," said Tom Sears, chief executive of Derbyshire. "We had been told by the ECB that the IPL franchise model was completely off the agenda and that they are looking at an EPL (English Premier League) with 18 first-class teams. Then I hear that two of the ECB management board have signed this document, which is really worrying."

Worcestershire Chief Executive Mark Newton was similarly shocked.