Chairman's franchise concerns

Giles Clarke © Getty Images

Giles Clarke, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, has questioned whether city franchises have a place in any revamping of the ECB’s Twenty20 competition.

At the ECB AGM held at Lord’s Cricket Ground, Clarke addressed the representatives of the first-class counties, the county boards, the MCC and the Minor Counties Cricket Association.

He welcomed the opportunities that have been presented to the ECB and praised the enterprise of the Board for Control of Cricket in India for the development of the Indian Premier League.

However, Clarke had a warning for those who wanted to discard hundreds of years of tradition and move towards city franchises.

“Our admiration for what has been achieved is immense," said Clarke of the IPL.

“It was, as the Indians say, a great tamasha. There was light, glitz, glamour and music. We must congratulate them on creating an opening ceremony and establishing a tournament which has a scope and scale which can be compared to the Rugby World Cup.

“Those who were in Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai, Mohali and Mumbai will talk of a great spectacle and a great show. It was described so admirably by Alan Lee in The Times as the ECB Twenty20 with more money thrown at it.

“Much of the look and feel of the tournament was taken from the ECB template – now the challenge for all of us is to continue investing in the marketing and presentation of the Twenty20 Cup to ensure it remains a brand leader for domestic competitions.

“People talked of an Indian event based on city franchises but these were not city franchises as we know them other than in the great cities of India such as Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Chennai.

“Often these were regional, state – or some might say county franchise – based on a provincial city. So in Jaipur we had the Rajasthan Royals, in Hyderabad the Deccan Chargers and in Mohali the Kings XI Punjab. Not much difference than Nottingham and Nottinghamshire or Derby and Derbyshire.

“This was not the picture of city franchise sport as those looking from afar might assume. Indeed, all those involved wished there was a hundred years of tradition on which to build these fledgling brands.

Clarke praised the impact of the Indian Premier League

“And some of the ideas spouted in the media have been frankly ludicrous. Can you, I was asked by a leading television executive, imagine cricket lovers rushing down St Johns Wood Road to see a franchise called Vodafone Team London owned by an ageing rock star?

“There has never yet been a successful Team London in any sport and nor is there likely to be any support for a Team Manchester or Team Leeds from traditional areas of rivalry such as Liverpool or Sheffield.

“When ECB launched their own Twenty20 Cup it was on the back of extensive spectator research and financial analysis. This is an exercise we will repeat before launching any new competition because we have said this tournament must be robust, spectator friendly and economically sustainable."

Clarke confirmed that there was a mandate for the creation of a Champions League later this year and also thanked Sir Allen Stanford for his interest in investing in Twenty20 cricket.

“I thank Sir Allen for his interest in cricket in England and Wales and most of all I thank him for believing that the ECB is the right vehicle through which to expand his patronage in cricket," he said.

“I know that he has been extremely impressed by the facilities in England and Wales and also by the scope of the work of the ECB and the excellence of the course plotted by its chief executive and board.

“I hope to give more details in the days and weeks ahead but I can guarantee that everyone in the game – from playground to Test arena – will benefit from this deal.”

Sledging was also addressed by Clarke, who warned that Test players must be a role model and did not rule out the use of yellow cards for transgressors in amateur cricket the future.

“The yellow card system is under debate as to whether it should be introduced for repeat offences of sledges,” he added.

Clarke also congratulated David Morgan’s imminent elevation to the presidency of the ICC but bemoaned the fact the ICC Annual Meeting had been moved to Dubai. “It is something we voted against,” said Clarke.