Indian interest in new Aussie T20 series - report

Indian investors are poised to grab a share of Australia's revamped Twenty20 competition in the biggest shake-up since Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket, newspapers said on Thursday.

Cricket Australia will decide this week whether to accept private equity from Indian and other overseas investors as part of the ownership of Australian teams, reports said.

The Daily Telegraph said two of Australia's most powerful cricket states, New South Wales and Victoria, have already sold shares to giant Indian corporations for around 60 million dollars (59 million US).

It said the outlays are in return for anticipated profits from an Indian Premier League-style eight-team tournament, mooted to start in Australia in January 2012.

Sources told The Daily Telegraph and The Australian that the new T20 series could even surpass late media mogul Packer's trailblazing World Series Cricket concept of the 1970s, which introduced day-night one-day cricket.

The newspapers said that Cricket Australia, keen to cash in on the IPL T20 phenomenon, is looking at starting a new city-based competition in 12 months.

"It's a moment as big, if not bigger, than the Kerry Packer moment when his role resulted in ODI cricket taking off and basically funding the development of Australian and world cricket for 25 or so years," CA spokesman Peter Young told The Daily Telegraph.

The Telegraph said Indian investors want a 49 percent share of a NSW Cricket business entity, known as Blues Inc, for around 30 million dollars (29.5 million US).

"The Twenty20 franchises in Australia could eventually be worth 80 million dollars each," an unnamed source told the newspaper.

"One-day cricket is dying, the only Tests people care about are the Ashes and India, and everyone knows Twenty20 is the future of the game."

According to the newspapers, overseas stars from India, England, the West Indies and South Africa will be offered huge contracts to play in a tournament that will replace Australia's traditional one-day cricket over January and February.

NSW and Victorian cricket officials have yet to comment on the reports.