The England and Wales Cricket Board has begun canvassing the views of players with the aim of setting up its own version of the Indian Premier League.
BBC Sport understands intensive talks with an American backer are taking place with the full support of the Professional Cricketers’ Association.
And one prominent county chairman has urged the ECB to act quickly.
Hampshire’s Rod Bransgrove said: “We invented Twenty20, but India reacted fastest to its commercial potential.”
The IPL, which began last Friday, has attracted big crowds, eager to watch top international names and all India’s star players competing in the game’s newest and most popular format.
The action off the pitch, with Bollywood’s biggest stars spotted in the stands and American cheerleaders rousing the fans, has also proved a big hit.
The ECB began talks with Sir Allen Stanford, a Texan billionaire who has his own Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies, on 15 April.
Two days later it said it was “very likely” to accept his proposal to field an England side for a one-off match, in spring 2009, against a West Indies All-Stars XI.
The winner would receive $20m (£10m).
ECB executives then flew to Bangalore for the IPL launch where they held further talks with the West Indies Cricket Board.
BBC Sport now understands the original, single Twenty20 international will develop into a full series.
Meanwhile, Stanford and the ECB have started focusing their talks on a response to the IPL.
The two sides are considering ways of giving England’s contracted players – who are barred from accepting the IPL dollars until 2010 – a way of improving their incomes via Twenty20.
One source said: “The players’ views are being listened to.
“Sean Morris [PCA chief executive] and David Collier [ECB chief executive] are speaking on a very regular basis.
And though Bransgrove said he did not know any details of the talks between Stanford and the ECB, he said an English version of IPL would be a “fantastic idea”.
Bransgrove told BBC Sport: “There is a need for dialogue between the ECB and creative entrepreneurs.
“I hope we learn more about the potential of Twenty20 cricket and sell it big-time to the public and broadcasters.”
Bransgrove, a businessman who has invested millions of pounds into cricket, said it was not necessary for the ECB to copy the IPL strategy of selling team franchises to entrepreneurs and celebrities.
But he did say: “It would be nice to see more inward investment.
“We should invest in getting more international stars in the English game, rather than less.
Full article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/7362289.stm
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