After months of speculation, the structure of the new-look English (and Welsh) Twenty20 League has been unveiled. The ECB, which was not in favour of some of the more radical proposals, unanimously agreed on the plan, which will be implemented from 2010.
Pro 40 will be scrapped, as many hoped, to make way for two Twenty20 competitions, as far as I can make out after 11 hours at work.
Firstly, there is the EPL (clever name, eh?), which will have a two-division structure. Each division would feature 10 teams, meaning there will be two ‘open’ slots for overseas teams as well as the existing 18 counties.
In addition, there will be a separate Twenty20 League, exclusively for the counties. Matches will be played ‘primarily on Friday nights in July and August’, and the competition will feed into the Champions League. Precisely why this is needed in addition to the ‘EPL’ is not entirely clear.
If this is confusing, let Giles Clarke explain it for you.
This is pretty much what I expected, given the overwhelmingly negative response to the radical MCC-backed plan for IPL-style city-based franchises to replace the counties. Whether the new league(s) will live up to the hype, we will have to wait and see.
I like the idea of guest teams.
I think one should be made up of detoxing celebrities and the other should be bikini models.