County chairmen could vote for calendar featuring first-class, 50-over and Twenty20

The truncated 2020 county season could feature three separate competitions of first-class, 50-over and Twenty20 cricket under a late compromise being put in front of the domestic game’s 18 club chairmen at a vote on Tuesday.

The professional game group – a body made up of four county chief executives plus Neil Snowball, the ECB’s new managing director of domestic cricket – incorporated a third option into their 10th and final draft schedule which includes abridged versions of each in an itinerary between August 1 and October 7.

Growing concerns over asking bowlers to play four-day cricket without the minimum preparation time advised in ECB medical guidelines, as Sportsmail reported last week, are understood to have led to an alternative fixture list being drawn up for a regionalised first-class competition called the Bob Willis Trophy.

The 18 first class counties to vote on how the truncated season will be played out 

In option A, that tournament – incorporating a five-day final starting on October 1 between the two counties with the best records – would start on August 1, the first four rounds being played back to back with three-day rest periods in between, and the fifth from September 6-9.

However, option C would begin on August 15 – following a 12-day group stage of a condensed one-day cup. Such a scheduling would allow bowlers who returned to practise on July 1 the five to six weeks of match-intensity bowling recommended as preparation for first-class action by the ECB’s science and medicine department.

Option C offers either four rounds of matches plus a four-day final between the top two starting on October 4 or a competition of five rounds in which the top team in the points standings would be crowned champions. Teams are to be incentivised to finish as winners or runners-up in their six-team regions with prize money.

The 2020 county season could feature three separate competitions if that proposal wins

Option B, viewed as a cheaper alternative to A as it rules out overnight hotel stays, would include only the playing of first-class friendlies. 

It would begin with 22 days of 50-over group matches, followed by quarter-final and semi-final stages and a final hosted at Trent Bridge on September 14. The final date and venue is retained in Option C. 

The Twenty20 Blast, viewed as essential to county finances due to the likelihood of socially-distanced crowds being allowed in late season, starts on August 27 across all proposed fixture models with quarter-finals (between the winners of the south, north and midlands regions and the five teams with the next-best records) on September 22 and a finals day at Edgbaston four days later.