Vaughan proposes FA cup styled Twenty-20 to ECB to boost English cricket

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has expressed to offer his proposal for an FA Cup-style Twenty20 competition to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), in view of declining cricket participation levels in amateur cricket.

Vaughan believes that the game's administrators should be concerned about these declining participation figures and this is one way of bringing the whole game together. He said that the cricket needs to get a buzz back into it. According to him, the T20 knockout would involve the club sides in the early rounds, with the minor and first-class counties entering at a later stage like the FA cup, the BBC reported.

His views came in response to an ECB survey where it showed a seven percent decline in cricket participation among children aged 14 and under.

Vaughan further said that it would bring the amateur game closer to the professional game, get pros that aren't in their county side back into the club system, and a way of getting some cash back to the grassroots. It wouldn't add too much more cricket to the first-class sides as they would only need to play four matches to reach the final, he added.