Plans for a Champions League style Twenty20 tournament featuring the world’s top club sides have been given a cautious seal of approval by Kent chief executive Paul Millman.

Unveiled at the weekend, the tournament which would be played in India or possibly Dubai or Sharjah in early October, would include finalists from this season’s Twenty20 Cup in the UK and top sides from India, Australia, South Africa, West Indies and possibly Pakistan with a top prize, depending on the sale of television rites, somewhere in the region of £2.5m.

In terms of income, that is almost double Kent’s £1.27m distribution for 2007 from the ECB, and 25 times more than the prize money for winning this year’s county championship.

Though guarded, Mr Millman believes the tournament could raise the profile of the domestic game and act as a tremendous incentive to the Kent team going into this year’s event.

He said: “I hope this competition will elevate the profile of our Twenty20 tournament several notches because it is such a big development.

“The potential prize money at stake has attracted some banner headlines because they are the sort of figures usually associated with football rather than cricket, but there is so much detail yet to be worked through.

“The Australian Cricket Board have been invited to work out the rules, prize money and breakdown of those monies, while the ECB and Indian Cricket Board are looking after the commercial side of things.

“It isn’t until October and all the detail will come out in the fullness of time, but what they have done is dangled a very big carrot our way.”

Mr Millman added: “I’ve said to our guys, let’s not forget we have to win it to be in it, so let’s go out and retain our trophy and then worry about the potential champions league after that.”

As for a players’ point of view, Kent and Indian Cricket League player Justin Kemp said: “It’s an exciting time for cricket but the amount of money that they talk of flying around seems ridiculous to me.

“That said I feel the idea of creating a champions league is a good move for county cricket because it would give young guys at Kent, those who have aspirations to play one-day cricket for their country, a tremendous opportunity to shine on a bigger stage.”