The England and Wales Cricket Board has axed domestic 50-over cricket, starting from next season.
Board confirms the Friends Provident Trophy is no more
The England and Wales Cricket Board has axed domestic 50-over cricket, starting from next season.
The 50-over Friends Provident Trophy has been dropped for the 2010 campaign, so counties will only play in the four-day LV Championship, a new-look Twenty20 competition and also a 40-over event.
The change comes ahead of the International Cricket Council's review of the future of the format, which will take place after the 2011 World Cup.
And ECB managing director Giles Clarke is confident the decision will not have an adverse impact on the national team, citing the top-ranked South Africans as an example where the same system has succeeded.
"Directors of cricket and coaches reported through their county votes, that the leading one-day team in world cricket - South Africa - do not mirror 50 overs at domestic level and that, provided powerplays and fielding restrictions were the same as the international format, the skills required were very similar," Clarke said.
"The board acknowledged that the members of the International Cricket Council will themselves be reviewing the future of 50-over cricket after the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and felt that an increased programme of England Lions matches should be developed in parallel to the first-class counties decision re the domestic structure."
The ECB has also increased the number of overseas players permitted in Twenty20 action from one to two, though the limit will remain at one in championship cricket.
