Australia to have its own version of IPL

SYDNEY: Australia is planning to stage its own version of the Indian Premier League, which will include franchises from South Africa and New Zealand and market it as the southern hemisphere's Twenty20 championship.

The inaugural ACL Twenty20 League is expected to kick off in 2011, The Australian reports.

Cricket Australia's (CA) chief executive James Sutherland had discussions with South Africa and New Zealand over the last year and both the boards have shown strong interest in the concept.

"The idea developed over the past 18 months. Regional-level T20 cricket played at the level immediately below international cricket has shown it can capture the public imagination and create new audiences for cricket," Sutherland was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

The ACL competition is still three years away and the CA will try to lure international stars to play for state teams in the KFC Big Bash from 2009.