England eyes 50-over domestic league

London: English cricket is considering replacing its 40-over domestic one-day league with a 50-over tournament to replicate the international game, the ECB said on Wednesday.

England are Twenty20 world champions and have risen to the top of the world test rankings but have struggled for years at 50-over one-day cricket. "In order to compliment the Team England goal of mirroring success in the Test and Twenty20 formats at the forthcoming Cricket World Cups, the format of ODI cricket must be introduced within domestic cricket from 2014," a statement said following an extensive consultation. "To support and strengthen the domestic County game, 14 T20 matches should be played, and to provide preparation time for high quality four-day cricket, the County Championship should be reduced to 14 matches." The ECB is also looking to reduce the number of four-day county matches on the calendar. Bureau Report