Yorkshire are left flying the flag for England as they chase T20 riches

Yorkshire are about to take part in the money-spinning Twenty20 Champions League. Chris Waters tells you all you need to know.

A LITTLE bird told me the other day that the average age of the Yorkshire membership is 69.

Although no surprise that the majority of those who watch County Championship matches are old-age pensioners, it explains why county cricket faces an ongoing fight for survival – not just at Yorkshire, but throughout the country.

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It also suggests, in view of the fact that so many who like the traditional form of the game are OAPs, that the Champions League might need a little explaining.

“Isn’t that the thing Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea take part in each year?” I hear you cry; well, it is, but now Yorkshire are about to participate in the cricketing equivalent.

The Twenty20 Champions League – or, to give it its Sunday name, the Karbonn Mobiles Twenty20 Champions League – is an invitational tournament which features many of the world’s leading Twenty20 teams.

It takes the form of a pre-qualifying event, followed by the main competition, and is run by the cricket boards of India, South Africa and Australia, who heavily weight it towards their own sides.

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For that reason, the eight confirmed entrants for this year’s main tournament in South Africa are all from the stake-holding nations: namely, the four teams that made this year’s Indian Premier League play-offs (Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians), the winner and runner-up of Australia’s Big Bash (Sydney Sixers and Perth Scorchers) and the winner and runner-up of South Africa’s MiWay T20 Challenge (Titans and Highveld Lions).

The qualifying event features six teams from countries who do not have a stake: namely, the winner of the domestic Twenty20 tournament in New Zealand (Auckland Aces), the Caribbean (Trinidad & Tobago), Pakistan (Sialkot Stallions), Sri Lanka (Uva Next) and England (Hampshire), along with the English runners-up (Yorkshire).

The Champions League tournament works as follows… First, the six qualifiers are divided into two groups of three, with each team playing the other teams in their group once, giving a total of two games per team.

Yorkshire are in qualifying group two along with Uva Next and Trinidad & Tobago, while Hampshire are in group one with Auckland Aces and Sialkot Stallions.

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The team that tops each qualifying group goes through to the main event to join the other eight teams, giving a grand total of 10 teams. After that, the 10 teams are split into two groups of five, with each team playing the other teams in their group once, giving a total of four games per team.

If Yorkshire progress through qualifying, they would be in Group B along with Chennai Super Kings, Highveld Lions, Sydney Sixers and Mumbai Indians.

On paper it is the toughest group and pits Yorkshire against the winners of last year’s Champions League (Mumbai) and the 2010 winners (Chennai).

The top two teams from each group go through to the semi-finals, with the final in Johannesburg on October 28.

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For Yorkshire, the competition is essentially a bonus and potential pay day.

The Champions League is cricket’s richest club competition – richer even than the Indian Premier League, with £1.6m paid to the winners, of which at least 60 per cent will go to the players.

Yorkshire receive £128,000 simply for taking part (money that will help fund the trip) and would earn another £128,000 minimum for progressing through qualifying.

For the players, it is a chance to showcase their skills on a global stage but, perhaps more importantly, to put themselves in the IPL shop window, where the prize money is smaller but the personal rewards greater.

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To look at Yorkshire’s potential route through the Champions League, they would do well indeed to claim the big bucks.

Twenty20 is a great leveller, however, and Yorkshire played well enough last summer to suggest they are capable of springing a surprise, while there will be no pressure on them to perform.

They certainly have a decent chance of getting through qualifying – particularly now that Trinidad & Tobago, the 2009 runners-up, have lost three of their star performers, with Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine having all chosen to play instead for their IPL franchises.

Uva Next, Yorkshire’s first opponents today, have some formidable operators – not least the Pakistan pace bowler Umar Gul and West Indian batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul – but Yorkshire have no reason to fear them.

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The problem for Yorkshire is that their team in South Africa will not be the same that took them to Finals Day.

There will be no Mitchell Starc, who was the competition’s leading wicket-taker with 21 at 10 and who is playing for Sydney Sixers, while the availability of South African batsman David Miller is patchy.

At the same time, the loss of key players did not damage Somerset last year, who surpassed expectations to reach the semi-finals and claim a £322,000 cheque.

Somerset’s efforts highlighted the unpredictable nature of Twenty20 – as did those of Leicestershire, who beat Somerset in the 2011 Twenty20 Cup final but did not get through Champions League qualifying.

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Although fascinating to see how Yorkshire fare, the organisers will have their eyes on the bigger picture. For despite the glitz and glamour and prodigious prize money, the Champions League has struggled to draw in the crowds and is still regarded as IPL’s little sibling.

There were vast numbers of empty seats for most games last year, with television ratings in India about a third of IPL levels, and tournament sponsors have come and gone with alarming rapidity.

With no English counties due to take part next year owing to a clash with the English domestic season (the same thing happened in 2010), the competition faces an ongoing battle for credibility.