Vaughan backs planned English T20 league
Ex-England skipper says change is necessary as ‘people outside are not talking about our sport’
Former England captain Michael Vaughan has given his support after officials on Monday set in motion the procedure that could lead English cricket to have a new eightteam Twenty20 tournament.
England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chiefs, having seen the success of the Indian Premier League and especially Australia’s city-based Big Bash Twenty20 tournaments, believe they need something similar to help them reach family audiences and encourage children to become fans of the sport.
However, the proposal has proved hugely controversial as, if enacted, it will mean that for the first time there is a major domestic cricket tournament in England that does not feature all 18 first-class counties.
At present, the ECB’s rules state all those clubs must be Joe Root has welcomed the ECB’s grand plans for Twenty20 cricket but has underlined the need for it to be shown on terrestrial television in the UK. The England and Wales Cricket Board have unveiled a blueprint for the future, declaring that its proposed eight-team T20 format was needed to ‘future-proof’ domestic cricket. England’s new Test cricket captain believes the tournament needs to be broadcast on free-to-air television for it to emulate the likes of the Big Bash League in Australia.
“I think it would be a very good idea,” he told BBC Radio 5 live. “You look at other competitions in the world and they have been successful. It would make a huge difference. The coverage we are given by Sky is exceptional. They are fantastic, and continue to be fantastic.
“It is very important the public are given an opportunity to see cricket at a national level, on free-to-air TV. It will be interesting to see how things pan out and what decisions are made. involved in its competitions — the first-class County Championship, the 50-over One-Day Cup and the Twenty20 Blast.
But ECB chairman Colin Graves will formally ask his board on Tuesday to trigger a change in those regulations in a bid to initiate the process for creating the new tournament.
“This new Twenty20 league is a risk but sometimes you have to gamble to grow a sport,” wrote Vaughan in his Daily Telegraph column published on Monday.
“Australia, India, Pakistan and the Caribbean already have big Twenty20 tournaments. We are just playing catch up and it is about time too.
“Those of us close to the game think cricket is the centre of the world. But people outside cricket are not talking about our sport. It just does not grab the country’s attention often enough outside Ashes series,” online the former Yorkshire batsman insisted.
The IPL and the Big Bash are the only senior domestic Twenty20 events in India and Australia respectively but the ECB plans to keep the Blast going alongside its new tournament, which it hopes to launch in 2020.
Securing our future
Monday saw the ECB present what it says was a “detailed overview” of its plans to its 41 members, comprising the counties, recreational boards and MCC.
It looks as if the ECB will get the 31 votes they require for a rule change, with the first-class counties guaranteed pounds 1.3 million (Dh5.9 million) annually for five years if the tournament comes into being.
“This is about growth and securing our future,” said ECB chief executive Tom Harrison. “As guardians of the game, it is the responsibility of all of us to steer cricket to a strong future and to pass it on in even better shape.”