Even the curmudgeons, a band I am in danger of joining, admit Twenty20 cricket has the capacity to be the saviour of the modern game. So what does the England and Wales Cricket Board decide to do? Abandon T20 cricket, which we all understand, for something it describes as “simpler” but which is undeniably shorter – 20 balls.

Such is the ECB’s staggering diffidence to T20 cricket as it now exists the board has opted for a gimmicky imitation. But the sad fact is however good the marketing men and women – and they will be working overtime to save the faces of those in charge at the ECB in the months leading up to the launch of this competition – I don’t think anyone is going to care.

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The ECB will tell us how it wishes to distinguish this competition from the T20 Blast between the counties, which has become increasingly successful in recent years; it says it wants to give families time to get home before it’s too late. And the board may mention the broadcasters – especially the BBC – need to be off air by 9pm so their schedules are not disrupted.

One suspects the last factor is the one that counts. It seems the ECB will do anything to satisfy the whims of the broadcasters and this includes introducing yet another format of the game, which is already overloaded with matches of so many different durations. And it has the gall to call this a simplification.

The ECB now prostrates itself at the knees of the broadcasters even if this means prostituting the game. So if one of the TV companies decided the launch of Strictly Come Slogging was a good idea, a neat half-hour slot in which two professional cricketers and two enthusiastic celebrities combined in a T2 match – they should be able to fit four overs into 30 minutes – or a T10 (that’s 10 balls rather than 10 overs) – then one suspects the ECB would be more than happy to deliver that “concept” (there has been much talk of concepts) asap.

Gimmicks seldom work in England. We need a contest not a circus

The ECB board, which keeps losing key figures such as Andy Nash and Richard Thompson, who are disenchanted by the way the game is being run, has offered “overwhelming support” for the new competition. We do not yet have such a clear idea what the counties think. Ten of them, those not chosen to host the new competition, are probably not bothered.

They have already been marginalised and they await their £1.3m per annum for signing up but not hosting. They may even tacitly admit the new plans have some virtue since the Blast, now described as “popular” by the ECB rather than “mediocre”, will be not so readily overshadowed by the new competition, despite all the marketing. Their fans may keep turning out at Hove, Chelmsford and Taunton. They are far less likely to make the trek to the cities to watch the latest craze.

Those counties with Test grounds, who are actually hosting the new competition, will be more nervous. Some of them, especially those outside London, are banking on it being a success to bail them out of considerable financial strife. They should realise that gimmicks seldom work in England. When T20 started here all sorts of razzmatazz was introduced but the tournament took off when it became clear it mattered to the players and the supporters who won. We need a contest not a circus.

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However, the format is not the biggest issue. Whether an over lasts six balls or 10 does not matter much – except for the confusion this might cause to all the new cricket fans the ECB is expecting to entice. We can cope with 100 balls rather 120. The real problem with the new competition is it leaves us with a domestic schedule likely to kill off the longer form of the game. By 2020 the months of , June to August will predominantly be given over to T20 cricket and T16.4 cricket (they may unearth a catchier title before long).

Two such tournaments in one season is too much. That does not adhere to the Australian model so beloved by the ECB. In 2020 we will be saturated by the short-form game throughout the heart of the season. Championship and 50‑over cricket will be downgraded even further. We desperately need one all-singing, all-dancing T20 tournament, into which the ECB can pour all its marketing resources to the extent that it can sell it to the TV companies.

Instead they are hawking a gimmicky new game involving teams who at the outset will prompt no loyalty from the fans in the cities, let alone those ignored in the shires. Those marketing men and women had better set to work now.