Australia to stage their own version of IPL

Lured by the success of the Indian Premier League, Cricket Australia has started the ground work for staging its own version of the Twenty20 tournament within two to three years.

The CA would retain some facets of the USD two billion rich IPL but also bring in some fresh ideas in the tournament, which may be spanning over three to four weeks.

The competition is likely to be staged during the Australian summer when home Test stars are available, and also it would not clash with the IPL.

CA spokesman Peter Young said an investigation to stage an IPL-like tournament was underway and they have already started to lay down their ideas.

"In reality we have taken a blank sheet of paper and say, 'what might a domestic Twenty20 competition look like?" Young told The Advertiser.

Australian players' union boss Paul Marsh had made a call last month for CA to look into hosting its own international Twenty20 tournament.

"It could be like soccer. The Indian league will be the Indian Premier League, and then you have the Australian league as the second league, or the English league or whatever it may be," Marsh said.

Australia has been the lastest country to join the Twenty20 bandwagon with Pakistan and England already in the fray to host similar Twenty20 tournament.