MCC chief questions ECB's P20 plans

Keith Bradshaw, the chief executive of the MCC and one of the people behind last summer's proposal to launch a streamlined nine-team Twenty20 superleague in England, has said that potential investors are not interested in pumping money into the ECB's P20 league.

The nine-team idea was scuppered by the counties and instead the ECB is planning on launching a second Twenty20 league featuring all 18 first-class sides next summer.

"Looking to the future I'm disappointed we are not going with the franchise as we proposed," Bradshaw told the Daily Telegraph. "I think it is the best model for English cricket and we are missing a massive opportunity as we can see by the success of the IPL.

"There is still a lot of interest from investors and as recently as last week I had a new investor in touch with me. The fact is though they are not interested in getting involved in an 18-team P20."

His views were echoed by Sussex's David Brooks. "I think there is a risk of overkill," he told the Guradian. "I expect it is too late to stop the P20 next year. Sponsorship packages are probably being tied up as we speak. Most of the counties have got reservations about a second Twenty20 tournament, including ourselves. The counties will have to market the two competitions very differently."