Sport | Cricket

England to launch IPL rival in 2010

England is to launch a tournament to rival the Indian Premier League (IPL) jointly with an American billionaire who said Twenty20 cricket could replace football as the world's top sport, it was announced on Friday.

  • IANS
  • Published: 00:35 April 26, 2008
  • Gulf News

London: England is to launch a tournament to rival the Indian Premier League (IPL) jointly with an American billionaire who said Twenty20 cricket could replace football as the world's top sport, it was announced on Friday.

David Collier, chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), said the tournament, to be bankrolled by Antigua-based Texan billionaire Allen Stanford, will kick off in 2010 because of commitments in 2009.

"We've had some very positive and constructive discussions with Sir Allen during the last week. I think Sir Allen has certainly mentioned 2010 and I think that's the more likely [date]," Collier said.

Team sport

However, the representative for England's cricketers - shut out of the IPL by their bosses - warned that an English Premier League would need the agreement of India, "because that is where the money is."

Standford said that Twenty20 could upstage football as the world's favourite sport and be worth £500 million.

"Twenty20 has the potential to be the most popular team sport in the world in maybe less than 10 years. But it's going to take a highly organised efficient management team to run it," he said.

  • Rate this article
  • Average reader rating (0 votes) 0 Stars
Tools

Emailing an article to friend is a simple way to share a news item. Your friend will receive an email with your name and email address as well any personal message you choose to send.

The information you provide on this page will not be used to send unsolicited emails.

This service is not intended to encourage spam, and action may be taken against individuals who maliciously enter personal details of another individual.

Share this article

More from Cricket

  1. Lara's protege hits debut century Australia thrash West Indies

  2. Tale of two comebacks in Dunedin

  3. Afghanistan snap UAE's victory run

  4. UAE take on Afghanistan in crucial clash

All articles in Cricket

More from Sport

Gulf News
Popular in Sport
Kings of the court
Pictures

Kings of the court

The world's top tennis players who will battle in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals

Sport Editor's choice