Champions League - exciting or meh? I just don't know what to think

Just in time to raise the stakes for the English Twenty20 cup, a Twenty20 superleague has been announced, to take place in the Middle East or India, in September / October this year.

This will be for the top two domestic teams from each of England, Australia and South Africa, plus the IPL finalists.

Teams we already know will be there:

Western Australia
Victoria
Rajasthan Royals
Chennai Superkings
Dolphins (Natal)
Titans (Northern Transvaal)

Jrod is a bit meh about this. I was initially quite excited, because I'm the kind of person who gets excited over being given a free pen on a plane. I thought it would be cool to see, for example, Shane Warne leading the Rajasthan Royals against the Vics, and to see Bryce spin it to the likes of MS Dhoni.

However, just like that song they used to play during the mystery guest round in "A Question Of Sport", there really are more questions than answers.

[b]How are the player conflicts to be resolved,[/b] where a player could play for more than one team? (I'm hoping for rock, paper, scissors).

[b]Where the flip is everybody else?[/b] the Lankans, the Windies, the Pakistanis, the Kiwis? And, for that matter, the Indian domestic non-IPL teams. It's such a wierd mix, having some domestic teams and then the IPL teams. It's not comparing like with like.

[b]What is this FOR?[/b] A champions league in football (I mean soccer, Aussies) is one thing, where the rules on international players are very, very different to cricket. One reason for directly comparing football teams is to compare the playing standard across different countries, which plays a part in the transfer market.

Is it just for the fun? And will the raised stakes make the current English Twenty20 cup less fun?

[b]The money. Ah, the money.[/b] The prize money for the winner is $USD5million. It makes the English Twenty20 prize money look like the spare change you find at the bottom of your handbag.

Today I watched Giles Clarke being interviewed and he said that a player that turned down a central contract would not be able to join the new superleague, to prevent them from forum-shopping.

So, it's ok to play for a big-money prize so long as you yourself haven't actively chosen to chase the money.

Like I said, more questions than answers. www.cricketwithballs.com

Now with new proper english lady blogger.