Private owners get green light for Australia's T20

Overseas private investment in teams will be allowed in Australia's revamped domestic Twenty20 competition to start next season, Cricket Australia said yesterday.

A CA board meeting on Friday gave the green light to an extended T20 competition -- to be called the Big Bash League -- which will run over the December-January period starting in the 2011-12 Australian summer.u00a0 "It will initially feature city-based teams from the six state associations, plus two further cities to be decided over the next few months.

CA chief executive James Sutherland said the board had given in-principle support to allowing private investors to become part-owners of the team franchises.