LONDON May18: England great Ian Botham has backed controversial plans for a new city-based 100-ball competition despite widespread criticism from within the game.
The former all-rounder believes England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves is right to press ahead with the “Hundred” concept in the hope that it can match the global appeal of the Indian Premier League and Australia’s Big Bash, both played under Twenty20 rules.
But the Durham chairman’s comments are in contrast to those of other current players, including his county’s captain Paul Collingwood, who led England to their World Twenty20 victory in 2010 and believes a bigger effort should be made to exploit the existing competition, the T20 Blast.
Botham believes the new tournament, due to start in 2020, could compete with the other popular franchise leagues.
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