English T20 Hots Up With High Profile Signings
November 20, 2009 by Alex Homer
Shane Warne could rejoin Hampshire for England’s new domestic Twenty20 competition, the Friends Provident T20, in the latest high-profile signing rumour.
Hampshire chairman Rod Bransgrove told Sportsmail: “You can never rule out getting Shane Warne back to Hampshire, although he’s very busy and I wonder whether he’d get out of bed for the money we can offer!”
From next summer the English domestic competition will allow four overseas players per county squad, although only two will be allowed to play in each game. Warne would join Sri Lankan mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis at the Rose Bowl.
Following the model of the Indian Premier League (IPL), county cricket is seeing the importance of gate receipts and lucrative sponsorships – hopefully guaranteed with international stars on show.
Mr. Bransgrove elaborated: “It seems strange that some counties are only just waking up to the financial potential of Twenty20.
“Take some of the Indian players. They would be a massive attraction in terms of sponsorship opportunities.”
None more so than Sachin Tendulkar, who Telegraph Sport revealed yesterday could join former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist at Middlesex in 2010.
Tendulkar is understood to be waiting on permission from the Indian Cricket Board before his signing is confirmed but Gilchrist is already contracted to play five matches: all at Lord’s, under floodlights, in a bid to boost attendances at the home of cricket.
The move will be part-funded by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the body that runs cricket, who have announced an extensive re-development of Lord’s this week.
Tendulkar’s signing will capture the interest of the Indian community in London, where he is a virtual God, as the highest ever run-scorer in Tests.
Although retired from international cricket, Gilchrist captains the Deccan Chargers franchise in the IPL, who won the competition held in South Africa earlier this year.
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