London: English cricket is in decline and needs a new Twenty20 tournament to breathe life back into it.

The NatWest Blast average attendance of 6,500 is lower-league football standard.

There is some good cricket, we have good nights at grounds such as the Oval and Chelmsford, and for Roses matches.

But that is not enough if we want to grow the game and ultimately rival the IPL, Big Bash and try to compete with football. England has so many talented cricketers in the country.

Young players on a par with, if not better than, the other nations.

We need to give them a platform to become household names and stars beyond the cricket family, which, if we are honest, is quite small in this country.

Even if the Test players are not involved in a new tournament because it clashes with international cricket we still have Jos Buttler, David Willey, Jason Roy, Adil Rashid and Eoin Morgan.

Youngsters such as Sam Billings, Daniel Bell-Drummond and Ben Duckett have been playing brilliantly for the Lions and there are others coming through, all brought up to play attacking cricket.

It is about creating a buzz around cricket. If it is seen by more people, it becomes a bigger event and supporters think it is a higher standard.

There is good cricket played in the NatWest Blast. I like it. But, ultimately, it is not in the same bracket as the IPL and Big Bash in terms of the profile it brings to the sport.

Fewer teams concentrates the talent, the best play the best.

If marketed properly and played in big stadiums with some content on free-to-air television, then it will be a winner because Twenty20 is such a brilliant product that people want to watch. I am also realistic.

The money has to come from pay-per-view television because terrestrial channels in this country do not have the money.

But a mix of pay-per-view and terrestrial is so important. The game makes money from pay-per-view but gets its profile from terrestrial television.

All of a sudden, you have a competition people want to watch and makes money. There is no reason why cricket should not think big and play games on drop-in pitches at the Olympic Stadium, Wembley or other major venues.

Twenty20 finals day is good and we pat ourselves on the back over it, but it still attracts crowds of only 25,000.

We can do better. I understand the counties being worried about not having a role or being sidelined. It is understandable. But this can benefit them, too. We are very lucky to have 18 counties.

It means we have 18 centres of excellence producing the next generation of Joe Roots, Stuart Broads and James Andersons.

But too many of those counties are struggling financially and you worry they might go out of business.

Some just concentrate on Twenty20 because that is where they pull in crowds and make money.

If a new tournament landed a big television deal and the counties were shareholders, then money would filter down and hopefully solve their financial problems.

Instead of surviving hand to mouth, perhaps the counties would have long-term financial stability, and that is good for the whole of the game. The base has to be strong to support everything above. I like the fact the counties would be able to keep their own Friday-night Twenty20 competition.

There is room for two tournaments but we must not have a situation where the game is split and one league is knocking the other. We have to come together over this and back it. Accept it is for the good of the game and not just protect self interest.

Ideally, you would like to see Yorkshire and Surrey retain their identities. I think that is the right way forward and I am sure the chairmen at those clubs agree. But the England and Wales Cricket Board has to listen to the best marketing experts and ask what kind of names give us the best opportunity for success.

We all think we know. But let the experts decide what names are sellable, and give the tournament the best opportunity to be marketable to a new audience. It is a risk. Will it take off in England? Is it too late? Will the weather hold? Can the ECB get the tournament right? Great teams and big businesses take risks to be successful.

Retaining the status quo does not work. I feel England has a board capable of making the big decisions and driving through change and we have to back them. We have tinkered with the sport over the last few years but nothing of any note. This would be radical and it will get everyone talking about cricket again.