The ECB consulted Mumsnet, the largest parenting website in the UK, in the lead up to its announcement last week of a 100-ball format for its new eight-team competition that starts in 2020.

Andrew Strauss, the director of England cricket, said on Sunday that the new format was aimed at attracting “mums and kids in the school holidays”.

The Times understands that the ECB’s research has shown that mums are the primary decision-makers in families about the activities that their children undertake in their free time and that making sure matches are shorter and simpler was a key part of the advice given on how to make sure the new competition attracts the audience the ECB wants.

Mumsnet has more than 4.5 million unique visitors