Restructure boosts Red Rose promotion hopes

LANCASHIRE’S bid for an instant return to Division One of the Specsavers County Championship has been boosted after the ECB announced a restructure of the domestic competitions starting in 2020.

The plans include the top flight being extended to 10 counties, which means next season three teams will be promoted from Division Two rather than two – with one going down.

From 2020, it will revert back to a two-up, two-down structure, with each side playing 14 matches.

It means some teams will play each other twice, and some just once, so a seeding system will be put in place to decide who plays who and how many times.

The move comes after criticism that having a quarter of the division being relegated each season is too harsh.

Said an ECB statement: “This change will provide an appropriate increase in security to Division One teams with a smaller percentage being relegated each season, and an increased opportunity for Division Two teams as they will have a greater chance of promotion.”

The T20 Blast will remain in its current format, while the county 50-over competition will be played during the same time window as the new short-format competition – for which Emirates Old Trafford will be one of the eight new hosts.

The ECB, however, are yet to finalise the exact details of the new competition, which is expected to be played over 100 balls.

However, in a bid to promote domestic players in white ball cricket, overseas players will not be allowed to play in the county 50-over competition.