Lucrative English Twenty20 competition proposed

By John Mehaffey

LONDON (Reuters) - A proposal for a nine-team English Twenty20 competition starting in 2010 and worth up to 1.3 billion pounds ($2.57 billion) will be discussed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) next week.

The plan, designed to counter the successful Indian Premier League launched this year, has been drafted by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) chief executive Keith Bradshaw and Surrey county cricket club chairman David Stewart.

"We are aware of significant interest from potential financial backers and are confident that a tournament along the lines we set out in the paper can generate considerable revenues for all 18 counties and the grass roots of the game," Bradshaw and Stewart said in a statement on Saturday.

"We make no apologies for preparing this board discussion paper as we strongly believe that the idea of an English Twenty20 tournament, taking the best from the Indian Premier League and combining it with the strengths of the English game, is worthy of considerable debate and discussion."

The discussion document proposes a 25-day annual competition in June, featuring leading overseas players, staged by county clubs at the nine test grounds. A player auction would be held for each team with a salary cap of about 1.5 million pounds.

ECB chairman Giles Clarke told the BBC he had not been involved in the proposal.

"It's an idea between two individuals on the ECB board," he said. "We may discuss it."

"There has been a lot of debate and discussion over what is the most optimal format for the summer -- what will generate the most money, what spectators want to watch, how it will help the England cricket team."

(Editing by Dave Thompson)