Cricket is the only significant world sport with well-supported international contests, but no significant domestic leagues backing them up. This odd circumstance can be attributed to the length of time that it takes to play test and one-day cricket. Five days of test cricket requires too much of a time commitment to watch it week in and week out. Even one day cricket requires too much of a commitment. For the cricket yobbo, nine hours of drinking takes its toll on the liver. For the less than jolly cricket fan, nine hours of watching is a bit much as well - especially when it entails watching the Mark Taylors of the world play like a Jamaican on valium.

The remedy to crickets problem is likely to be 20/20 cricket. 20/20 is the first professional cricket format that could be put into a weekly home-and-away league format and attract a tribal following. A typical game starts at 5.30pm and is over by 8pm. For the first time, it is possible to see a whole match without a meal break. It thus attracts people who wouldn't normally have the time to watch cricket, the patience to endure Mark Taylors, or the durable liver to make the Mark Taylors bearable.

Understandably, many senior players, as well as the cricket establishment, are dragging their heals on establishing a domestic league. Players are concerned about traditions, statistics, and their place in history. Administrators feel much the same way.

Although the cricket establishment sees 20/20 as a threat, it will probably come to see 20/20 as its saviour. For a long time cricket had a monopoly on the summer sports market, but with the emergence of soccer and rugby union, other sports are now encroaching upon this market. Cricket crowds have dropped, and without a well-supported domestic league, a niche is available for other sports to erode its grassroots base. 20/20 will close this niche.

If Cricket Australia does not establish the league, it will probably end up losing control of the game. In other countries, two billionaires have already seen its potential, and have set the 20/20 wheels in motion. In the West Indies, American Allen Stanford is planning an international Twenty20 carnival that offers four times as much prize money as the world cup. In India, Subhash Chandra intends to create a city-based cricket league based along the lines of America's NBA and NFL. At this stage, Chandra does not intend to stage internationals, so his league would fit in nicely with Stanfords.

If another billionaire came along to do the same thing to Australia, he or she would find the door of the establishment relatively easy to kick down. A domestic cricket league could realistically provide significant remuneration to around 200 players. The ACB only offers it to around 20. This is the inevitable consequence of a business model that only has one team holding spectator appeal. The superior business model of a tribal league just couldn't be beaten - especially when the tribal model has three hours of fast and furious action, and the traditional model retains its Mark Taylors.

After a series of countries establish 20/20 domestic leagues, cricket is likely to become the most powerful sport in the world. Not only is it the most popular game in one of the world's populated nation, it is the only sport that truly appeals to all body shapes and all temperaments. Unlike soccer, it has room for the angry young man who hates his parents. Unlike rugby, it has room for the gentleman who fancies a cup of tea with his evening meal. Unlike most sports, it has room for the beanpoles like Glen McGrath, which a normal sport would snap in half. Along with the beanpoles, it also has room for the short-arses like Ricky Ponting who usually get mistaken for the ball boy at tennis matches. About the only people it isn't suited for are the Mark Taylors, but perhaps that heightens the attraction. Mark Taylors belong in a Japanese sumo ring, not on Australian sporting grounds.

In regards to establishment in Australia, the NRL and AFL might both be willing partners. Australia's two premier sporting competitions have marketing, physio, coaching, home grounds and training facilities that are under-utilised over the summer months. Involvement in a cricket league would give them the opportunity to make the most out of these resources.

Aside from the opportunity to fully utilise their resources, the football codes may support a domestic league as they have a vested interest in ensuring that cricket retains its strong summer following. The last thing the football codes want is for soccer to gain a foothold in the summer months, and then use that foothold to push into winter.

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