English Premier League of Cricket

By Gul Raiz • Jul 18th, 2008 • Category: Entertainment • (2,499 views) • No Responses

There will be an English Premier League Twenty20 competition starting in 2010.

Having rejected a leaked proposal that would have left out half the country’s 18 counties, the England and Wales Cricket Board agreed Wednesday to start a two-division tournament containing all the sides plus two overseas teams.

The ECB also plans to scrap its largely unloved Pro40 tournament in 2009, allowing for a total overhaul of club cricket in England.

The 40-over tournament will be replaced by a separate Twenty20 league involving the 18 counties, with matches played mostly on Friday nights in July and August.

The 2010 season in England will also include a 50-over one-day tournament alongside the traditional county championship, but most of the excitement is bound to centre on the EPL.

The announcement of the EPL comes just months after the enormously successful debut of the Indian Premier League.

The EPL would replace the current Twenty20 tournament played in England, which is increasingly popular, and would consist of two 10-team divisions.

Teams would then progress to quarterfinals and a knockout format.

“I am delighted that the board unanimously supported the secretive proposals,” ECB chairman Giles Clarke said.

“We have already received enormous broadcast and sponsor interest from around the world,” he said.

Clarke told Sky TV there was unlikely to be an IPL-style auction, saying that aspects of the IPL were “uniquely Indian”.

Source : Sky TV