IPL at the Oval, Surrey seeks Sadiq Khan's backing

COUNTY cricket club, Surrey wants to host Indian Premier League (IPL) in London and other parts of England, which could be a big boost to the cash-strapped domestic games.

Surrey hopes to bring the lucrative franchise based cricket league to its home ground, Kia Oval, and also to other Test venues in the country.

Post-Covid, the plan is to hold official matches, similar to when NFL came to London.

"We would love to bring the IPL to London and other areas of England,' Surrey chairman Richard Thompson told Sportsmail.

"We think that's the silver bullet in terms of reaching a more diverse audience for cricket in this country.

"We could stage games in the same way Jacksonville Jaguars, for one, play legitimate NFL games in London. The windfalls that staging the Champions Trophy and World Cup provided for English cricket were huge and we see the IPL on that level.

"This could be worth tens of millions to the English game. We have all lost so much money through Covid that we have to be more creative and provide cricket that generates revenue you wouldn't otherwise have made. That's why I think IPL is a no-brainer," Thompson added.

Surrey seems to have also approached London mayor Sadiq Khan for the project. Moreover, the Labour politician has an impressive track record of bringing international events to London.

Khan, who is seeking re-election as mayor next month, played a big role in the talks that brought Major League Baseball to London two years ago. Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees played two regular season games at West Ham's London Stadium.