ECB considering radical changes for T20 league in 2020

According to reports, England and the Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is considering radical suggestions for English cricket’s new T20 competition, launching in 2020, including five-ball overs and changing bowling ends only once – halfway through the innings.

These radical proposals have been mentioned in exploratory talks aimed at speeding up and further shortening T20 cricket matches. However, this suggestion is being considered because ECB is under severe pressure from the TV broadcasters.

The ECB is reportedly under pressure from TV partners such as the BBC to ensure games in the flagship competition are completed in around two-and-a-half hours. The BCCI always have scheduling issues and if implemented, this decision will ensure games in the flagship competition are finished quickly.

Things keep changing in the T20 league in England

T20 internationals, on an average, are taking up to an hour longer. The ECB says plenty of meetings are taking place about the tournament, with special attention on making it attractive for a younger audience. ‘Everything’s up in the air over T20, the goalposts are moving all the time,’ said one insider, as reported by Daily Mail UK. However, an ECB spokesman said, ‘Five-ball overs and 10 successive overs from one end are definitely not on the T20 agenda.’

The English franchise Twenty20 competition will be a professional T20 cricket league in England and Wales run by the ECB from 2020. After the increasing popularity of franchise cricket and league across the globe, the ECB also plans to hold a league that will consist of eight franchise teams, instead of their traditional 18 first-class county teams.

This will have nothing to do with the Natwest T20 Blast and is intended to run alongside the county competition. This is certain despite the fact that the idea for a proposal for this competition stemmed out of the decreasing relevance of the current competition structure and the opportunity to attract new fans.