'Franchises won't boost T20 cricket in England'

I know it won’t work. Fewer counties might be desirable and so might fewer teams be just for Twenty20, but this is not the answer. Crowds will not flock. In British sport we don’t easily understand mergers and amalgamations. We are too feudal and parochial. Our allegiances are long determined, and therefore not easily transferable. We want our teams to remain linked to the closely-knit communities that their names represent, even if it has long been accepted that the players may come from elsewhere.