Chappell sees club franchises as future of cricket 05 Sep, 2008 © AFP
Former India coach Greg Chappell believes cricket's future lies in privately-owned Twenty20 club franchises around the world with Tests taking a back seat. Chappell, who was this week appointed as the new head coach of the Cricket Australia Centre of Excellence, said he could envisage cricket being organised along the lines of European football clubs. "I can see a future where a Mumbai club plays New York, plays London, plays Singapore," the former Test batsman told the Straits Times here. "There'll be club teams based all over the world and I think that's a good development. "We're going to get to the stage where it is like soccer - the players will play for their clubs and occasionally for their country. So there's always the possibility of conflict, like we see in soccer." The recent boom in Twenty20 cricket, sparked by the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) this year, has led to concern in some quarters about the future of traditional Test cricket. There are fears that the riches on offer to players in Twenty20 tournaments will make the next generation focus on the big-hitting need to flourish in the 20-over game rather than the more disciplined style of five-day Tests. Chappell said that if the game was to grow beyond its traditional borders, then Twenty20 was the format. "The relevance of five-day cricket to people in China, the United States and Europe just hasn't been there," he was quoted as saying. "But they can see the excitement of the short format." Chappell, a former captain of Australia, played 87 Tests and 74 one-day internationals for his country. | 
