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ZIMBABWE Cricket has unveiled five franchise teams to play in the national league for the coming season.

The franchise system is part of the many recommendations made by an International Cricket Council (ICC) taskforce headed by West Indies boss Julian Hunte last September.

The revamped domestic system will decentralise the administration of cricket by creating self-sufficient franchises to run alongside existing provincial associations.

The franchises will run five first-class teams to play throughout the season in a changed domestic calendar.

The franchises will be based at Harare Sports Club, Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo, Kwekwe Sports Club, Mutare Sports Club and Masvingo Sports Club.

The captains of the teams have been unveiled with Tawanda Mupariwa leading the Matabeleland Tuskers. The chairman of the Matabeleland franchise is business mogul and AmaZulu Football Club chairman Delma Lupepe.

Pace bowler Elton Chigumbura will head the Mashonaland Eagles, Chamu Chibhabha, the Southern Rocks, Hamilton Masakadza for the Mountaineers of Mutare and Edward Rainsford of Midwest Rhinos, who will be based in Kwekwe.
The franchises now have two weeks to tie up contracts with players and coaches before the 2009/2010 season begins in September.

ZC provincial offices and provincial boards will continue to administer the development of cricket in schools and provincial club leagues. The club game, which assumes Amateur Cricket status in the new setup, will act as feeder to the franchise sides.

The franchise system is used to great effect in South African cricket and rugby, and recently in the Indian Premier League.

Under the new setup, ZC will suspend central contracts. Players will now be remunerated by their franchises.

In South Africa, a franchise is the commercial arm of a provincial association, which is responsible for running the province's first-class team, which is considered the first stage of professional cricket before a player breaks into the national side. The province still runs lower level cricket such as clubs and schools, and a provincial team.

The franchise system was adopted in 2004/05, to create a strong tier of teams that would create a higher standard of competition at the top level and thus improve the standard of domestic cricket in South Africa.

It was seen a way of bridging the gap between domestic and international competition, should a cricketer be called up to the Proteas.

In South Africa, bigger provincial unions merged with a smaller, neighbouring one to create a franchise. For example, Free State Cricket Board joined with Griqualand West to form the Eagles, known as Gestetner Diamond Eagles because they are sponsored by the IT company.

The franchises now have two weeks to tie up contracts with players and coaches before the 2009/2010 season begins in September.