Twenty20 Leaves Cricket Fans in a Spin

The football season is a mere fortnight away. Once upon us, supporters will know what to expect—a diet of league games interspersed with the League Cup and the hopeful FA Cup run after Christmas.

The elite four will divide their priorities between the Champions League and the Premier League. There are other competitions as well, but your average fan understands the system. Not so with cricket.

At the moment, we have a two-divisional County Championship, a 50-overs tournament based on geography, a 20-overs competition with three leagues which leads to a playoff, and a 40-overs competition again with two divisions.

At the start of 2000, we had two 50-overs tournaments and a 45-overs league.

While the 50-overs games take place early in the season—though the final is not until August 16—and the 20-overs tournament dominates June, what should be the premier competition, the County Championship, has to fit in around everything else, notably a 40-overs competition that is unique to this country.

Many of us who follow the season wondering when our team will be playing next and in what competition. Well, last week the English Cricket Board met to make their latest attempt at simplifying matters.

From 2010, the English Premier League will come into being. There will be two divisions made up of 10 teams—the 18 counties and a side provided by the Texan billionaire Allen Stanford as well as another, probably from India and most likely the winners of the Indian Premier League.

A proposal to merge the counties into nine franchises was fortunately dropped. The County Championship and 50-overs tournament are to be preserved as they exist now, and the 40-overs competition is to be ditched. So far, so good.

However, just when you thought that the ECB was streamlining domestic cricket to mirror the world game and provide some days off for its labourers, they announce an additional Twenty20 league for the counties to be played primarily on Fridays throughout July, August, and September.

Of cricket's four tournaments, two will be of the 20-overs variety, arguably the most popular form at present.

And, while the Worcestershire chairman Mark Newton points out that overkill was the biggest worry for the counties, these concerns will be eased with the possibility of an investment of £60 million through sponsorship and television rights.

As usual, the opportunity to develop what is best for the sport is lost and confusion will continue to reign.

I'm not sure, for example, which is the premier of the two leagues. The one based on 20 sides is two-divisional with relegation and promotion, which means that only half of the participants have a chance of winning. The second, however, is based on the current model and provides England's two teams for the champions league.

The Australians have also said that they are looking to revamp their 20-overs competition and they will expect their international players to take part.

To do that, they argue, will require a window in the calendar in which the shortened form will be uninterrupted by international cricket.

A plethora of 20-overs leagues will challenge the early supremacy of the IPL, but that could raise many awkward questions.

For example, will players be allowed to be contracted to more than one team?

It seems that county sides will be allowed to employ more overseas players in order to attract the marketing money from abroad. But what if an Andrew Symonds is contracted to Middlesex when Australia are touring England? Could rebel leagues draw players outside of an agreed window?

While I dislike the emphasis placed on the brand in today's globalised world, people have become accustomed to knowing what to expect. In MLB, the NFL, and the NBA, people know and understand what they are. Domestic cricket seems always to be reinventing itself and needs to consolidate rather than mystify.

This was another lost opportunity.