YORKSHIRE captain Andrew Gale has called for reform of the domestic Twenty20 competition to prevent English cricket being "left behind".

The 18 first-class counties contest the NatWest T20 Blast – with 2014 champions Warwickshire rebranded as Birmingham Bears – with group games played mostly on Friday evenings from mid-May to late July and this year's finals day taking place on August 29.

Gale favours a shorter, smaller competition between city-based franchises, along the lines of the Indian Premier League or Australia's Big Bash League.

He wrote on Twitter: "How good is the big bash, we have to do something with our comp otherwise we'll get left behind. Gotta inspire the kids.

"Franchise system would work in England. 10 cities, over 3 week period, straight after IPL. World's best players, bigger crowds."

That would effectively mean his Yorkshire team in their current form ceasing to compete in Twenty20 cricket, an unpalatable move to many – but Gale still had one more left-field suggestion up his sleeve.

"Be good if 2 big bash teams played in our comp and 2 English teams played in their comp," he wrote.