Twenty20 leak

There are some interesting thought pieces being prepared for the ECB after they requested proposals (apparently). The only problem is that one of them has become public before it has been discussed and that is a nightmare for all concerned.

While the BCCI has been at the forefront of change given their huge power in the world game, there has always been the suspicion that they aren't exactly a slick and professional unit, to say the least. If a journalist wants to know what's going on at any time, they can always find out from one of the key players - at worst, occassionally the person concerned asks not to be named and the story is not attributed to any particular individual. But every move the BCCI make is known about well in advance. (As an example, see the story that has become public about an IPL player who has failed a doping test, but where other tests are required before the player is even asked to account for himself.)

The likes of Sir Allen Stanford have said that England might be a better place to oversee the massive growth of the game through Twenty20 given the infrastructure, but this leak puts and end to any thoughts like that. It also makes it harder to push through the proposal. There have been lots of examples of market domination in the business world from companies that launch after someone else has done the hard work and learnt all the lessons that needed to be learnt, and the ECB might have thought there was a similar opportunity with Twenty20, at the expense of the IPL. This leak, and the public negative comments of some, just makes things even harder for them though.