Surrey boss urges county changes

Alan Butcher says the English game needs to be restructured

Surrey manager Alan Butcher wants a major overhaul of the English game in response to the Indian Premier League.

The IPL is attracting stars from around the globe and it is feared England's top players will also be attracted.

Butcher told BBC London 94.9: "The franchise models that we're seeing may be an attractive proposition (here).

"The money that could be generated from that competition could finance a regional four-day competition for 60 or 70 of the best players in the country."

Butcher believes the gap between the County Championship and the Test game is too big and the introduction of a tournament similar to the IPL in England would help to raise the level of the domestic game across all competitions and raise funds for a new regional tournament.

He added: "The (IPL) model may be an attractive proposition for companies or businessman to buy an area franchise or city franchise possibly just to play Twenty20, because that is the sort of cricket that brings the crowds in and satisfies the sponsors.

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"I've actually thought for the last 25 or 30 years that we need a bridge (to the Test side) and I've always felt that a good way of doing it would be to have a regional four-day competition between five or six teams.

"Therefore ensuring that 11 of your best players from the south-east etc play in what ought to be a very high quality competition and from there you pick the Test side.

"Underneath that I would still have the County Championship, so it wouldn't mean the counties would disappear and they could still be centrally funded by the ECB as they are now.

"They would be the development or breading ground for the regional sides, I think then you could have smaller squads fed by an extended academy programme."