England 'falling behind' on T20 - Lumb

Michael Lumb, one of a select band of England cricketers to become a sought-after Twenty20 star, has appealed for the ECB to abandon its county-based T20 tournament in favour of a city-based franchise system to stop England "falling way behind the rest of the world".

Lumb's call comes as the incoming ECB chief executive, Tim Harrison, supervises a two-day chairman's meeting at Edgbaston ahead of what could prove to be another root-and-branch review of the England game.

Lumb, a former winner with England at World Twenty20, has transformed his career relatively late in the day as the advent of tournaments such as the IPL and Big Bash League have offered glamorous new opportunities for short-form specialists.

Speaking exclusively to ESPNcricinfo at a Sixers net session in Sydney, he produced one of the most emphatic criticisms against the English system and invited "the suits" to take note of the success of a Big Bash competition wallowing contentedly in a 20% rise in attendances.

"The UK is crying out for a city-based franchise," Lumb said. "Playing in T20, we have fallen way behind. Compared to the IPL, the Big Bash… I think we're nowhere. The crowds aren't as good. I definitely think we can improve our product.

"I think the suits in England need to get out and watch the game over here and see what this is about because we are falling way behind the rest of the world."

Lumb, born in South Africa, comes from a family with a strong county tradition - his father, Richard used to open the innings for Yorkshire with Geoffrey Boycott. That did not stop him waving aside concerns that any franchise system would abandon the county rivalries - such as the Roses game - that have been such a central part of the game's history.

"City franchises might alienate a few but the new T20 competition is totally different to the traditional County Championship," he said. "The competition is made to create new fans. You haven't got your diehard fans; it's about kids and families coming along.

"It's all about the experience rather than this Yorkshire v Lancashire, Notts v Derby sort of rivalry. If you create a good product the new spectators will come. You can see at the Big Bash, a lot of kids, a lot of families. That's what we want - to get young people into the game and see them enjoying it."

Lumb's belief in the Big Bash city franchise goes further than just large crowds. He also insisted the quality and entertainment is superior to the English product - a tournament which drew record numbers in 2014 when it was relaunched as primarily a summer-long Friday evening competition.

"I think this is the best competition in the world at the moment as far as standards go," he said of the BBL. "You play on good wickets, you have guys who bowl 140-150kph, guys who smack it out of the park and exceptional fielding.

"Compared to the product back home where we play on slow, turning, nibbly wickets where guys who wouldn't get away with it on good pitches get a game. The whole thing needs a reshape. The standard here in Australia is superior, I think, to that back in England."

England's approach has been distinct from the rest of the world in that the ECB has eschewed playing T20 in a window in favour of games primarily on Friday nights for much of the spring and summer.

Lumb also recoils at that, arguing that it rules out many world-class players, compromises standards and confuses potential fans. "As a player I don't really like Friday nights. You don't have much time to prepare as you come straight out of a four-day game into a Friday night game so your preparation is pretty slack," he said.

"If you speak to people, it takes a lot of following. People lose track of what is going on. And as a player, you can lose four or five games and still get into the semi-finals whereas if you condensed it and less teams and less games it puts more onto each game and improves the standard.

"The best players in the world aren't going to come for a three-month window. They are going to come for a shorter period. That's what you want: the best players in the world for a short amount of time, get it done and have a good product."