Thaindian News

London, Apr 13(ANI): The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is reportedly setting up a working party to examine the structure of county cricket in England, and explore the prospect of an Indian Premier League (IPL)-style Twenty20 tournament.

The counties involved in the process are believed to be Lancashire, Yorkshire, Warwickshire, Durham, Hampshire, Nottinghamshire, Surrey and Glamorgan.

According to The Telegraph, a group, comprising of chiefs of Warwickshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Durham, MCC Secretary and Chief Executive met for the first time at Lord’s last week.

The group has commissioned Deloitte to compile a paper, which will be submitted to the ECB over the next six weeks.

Members of the working party visited recently India and met IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi.

“The group is looking at the whole domestic structure and part of that will be Twenty20 cricket,” the newspaper quoted a senior source, as saying.

“We will also look at the bidding system in terms of how that operates and whether the model we have at the moment is the best model or not. A few of the guys have been out to India and we are convinced there are enough investors in India alone, who would be willing to buy into a franchise,” he added.

It is believed that a new Twenty20 competition would run alongside the existing Friends Provident Twenty20.

The move echoes of the proposal two years ago to set up an English Premier League involving nine teams based at the Test venues.

Surrey Chairman David Stewart and Bradshaw had devised that plan, but it was scrapped after opposition from the smaller counties, who feared being sidelined. (ANI)