Hants prepare to go global (From Daily Echo)

Hants prepare to go global

6:41pm Wednesday 3rd February 2010 in

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Hampshire Cricket are on the verge of forming a unique partnership with the Rajasthan Royals.

The Indian Premier League giants already have a close association with Rose Bowl plc.

Rajasthan are captained and coached by former Hampshire skipper Shane Warne and Michael Lumb and Dimi Mascarenhas will miss the start of the county season so they can play for the Royals in the third IPL.

Now the relationship is set to be taken a step fur ther as the Royals have been meeting Hampshire and other domestic teams from around the world as they look to forge a global alliance unprecedented in any professional sport.

Hampshire chairman Rod Bransgrove was negotiating with the Royals today and confirmed: “You would expect us to be at the forefront of the marketplace and we are in quite advanced discussions.

“There’s likely to be an announcement soon but I don’t want to go into too much detail at this stage except to say that Twenty20 is a fantastic opportunity.”