WHILE the International Cricket Council (ICC) debates the merits of validating Twenty20 on a global stage, at least one group is making money out of the increasingly popular limited-overs format.
The Get Fit Foundation, involving former England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) executives, has signed up eight television companies to screen the inaugural 20-20 World Cricket Classic in Bermuda in April.
Among the broadcasters is Five, which will use an hour-long programme as an “appetiser” before it begins showing peak-time highlights of England’s home Test matches in May.
Coverage of the 20-20 event, involving teams from England, India, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Bermuda, will be handled by Sunset + Vine, the production company responsible for giving cricket a zippier edge when it was on Channel 4.
The over-35s tournament will feature more than 100 “golden oldies” including Robin Smith, Rodney Hogg, Devon Malcolm, Aravinda de Silva, Chris Lewis, Phil DeFreitas and Gary Kirsten.
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The venture is the brainchild of Keith Pont, the ECB’s former development chief, who is supported by Terry Blake, the ECB’s former commercial director, and John Read, the former corporate affairs director.
The ECB trademarked Twenty20 in Britain but has no jurisdiction overseas. There is a separate plan by Investors in Cricket, the consortium that runs Leicestershire, for a Twenty20 Champions League in Asia. The ICC board has spent 18 months “consistently reviewing” a possible Twenty20 World Cup, which has the support of 13 countries, and will discuss it again in March.