THERE will be extra incentive for Hampshire to do well in next summer's domestic Twenty20 Cup competition.

England's successful Twenty20 teams next season face significant financial reward the for their efforts with entry into a Champions League-style tournament.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India will tomorrow announce details of the 16-team tournament, which will include both finalists from England alongside those from other top cricketing nations.

It will be held in India next October and will be the first major club tournament to offer the kind of prizemoney akin to international level.

Kent took home £42,000 for being crowned England's 2007 champions of 20-over cricket but, thanks to the huge bounty on offer from television companies, would be contemplating a much larger sum for repeating their exploits in 2008.

There is a huge appetite for live cricket around the world, particularly Asia, and this tournament would showcase the best Twenty20 players on the planet without impacting heavily on Test and one-day international players' already heavy schedules.

English cricket has been testament to the fact that the most successful teams at the shortened format have not necessarily been those packed with household names.

Support for the competition is expected to be widespread with the England and Wales Cricket Board sure to welcome the impetus given to their domestic campaign by a financial bonus on offer to two of their 18 members.

The International Cricket Council meanwhile will no doubt be heartened by the potential raising of standards such a global tournament might stir, and the sharing of wealth between member countries.

The event is the brainchild of the Indian cricket authorities, and comes in response to the threat posed to them by the lucrative Twenty20 breakaway competition on the subcontinent this autumn, funded by Zee TV.

Leicestershire hosted a smaller scale tournament in 2005, which was won by Pakistan's Faisalabad Wolves.