New city-based Twenty20 tournament approved by ECB

It looks more likely than ever that an eight-team Twenty20 tournament in 2020 for England and Wales will go ahead.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) received a landslide vote in favour of changing its constitution, with 38 of 41 in favour of allowing a new domestic competition with regional sides.

These income streams are expected to amount to £1.3m a year for each of the 18 first-class counties, who will continue to compete in the existing T20 Blast but will see on average five of their best players join teams based at eight major venues for the 38-day competition during summer.

The ECB hopes that the new competition will be considered as one the world’s major cricket tournaments, sitting alongside the Indian Premier League and Australia’s Big Bash League.