Twenty20 mini-tournament in the pipeline

On the eve of the first Twenty20 international between England and Australia, it has emerged that the success of the format has encouraged several counties - specifically those with permanent floodlights - to seek permission from the England & Wales Cricket Board to stage their own mini-tournaments.

Sussex, Derbyshire, Glamorgan and Essex already have floodlights in place, and hope to stage a four-way tournament as early as next year, if a suitable package can be negotiated in time.

"At the moment, the plans are very much in the embryonic stages," said Hugh Griffiths, Sussex's chief executive, who stressed that the idea should not be seen as a breakaway movement. "If it does happen, it will have to be with the full co-operation of the ECB and Sky Television, because we need the credibility. We don't want this to be another minor tournament, because they tend not to get the commercial backing."

Such tournaments have been pioneered in the past - Sussex themselves hosted the now-defunct Seeboard Trophy for four seasons between 1989 and 1992 - but the universal appeal of Twenty20 cricket, with its TV-friendly timespan and sell-out crowds, makes this concept a potential cash-cow for the counties, who, in the aftermath of the disbanding of the First Class Forum, have been encouraged to turn themselves into profitable organisations and not just rely on ECB handouts.

"As soon as we come up with a package that is attractive to the both players and spectators, and is endorsed by Sky and the ECB, we will get underway," said Griffiths. "Ideally we are looking at next season, but if we have wait until 2008, we will wait until 2008."

Although other counties were less forthcoming, Essex's David East admitted that talks were underway. "At present plans are very much in the early stages," he said, "but we are having positive discussions with the ECB and the other counties."

A report in Monday's edition of The Times indicated that the Twenty20 bug may extend a step further, with plans afoot for a Champions League competition involving the leading domestic teams from all nations that have taken up the format. "That type of concept is very appealing to us," admitted Griffiths. "The ECB's strategic plan encourages participation and following at all levels of the game, and Twenty20 cricket is the perfect game to get a new audience on the ladder that takes up up through county cricket to the Test arena."

Nevertheless, the ECB have so far denied any knowledge of the proposed tournament, and it is unlikely that they would want to release any of their centrally-contracted players to help boost the credibility of the competition. Griffiths, however, hoped that that would not be the case. "Non-regular followers respond to these high-profile stars," he added. "When Andrew Flintoff is playing for Lancashire, it's a whole new ball game."

"Heroes are essential for the credibility of cricket. We are trying to attract a new audience that includes women and young people," he concluded. "If the ECB give it their backing, then we hope it would be possible to avoid any clashes with international fixtures."