How American football is finding its Olympic feet

LONDON:Cricket's authorities make for unlikely revolutionaries.

For years there were worries that the game at domestic level was only watched by the old and the infirm. To counter this problem the England and Wales Cricket Board were innovative and daring. They thought up a new approach and it worked. Brilliantly.

Twenty20 Cricket was launched to a cynical public three years ago, a shortened version of the game aimed at bringing in new people. Last month the first ever World Cup final was watched by over 400 million people.

Twenty20's success has caught the eye of every major sports governing body in the world - golf, tennis and squash have all developed short versions of their sports.

It is in America however, that short version sport may have the greatest impact. The NFL, the body that controls American grid iron football, is the most commercially successful sport in the world.

But not content with mere money, NFL team owners want the respect that goes with being an Olympic sport, so they have developed a hybrid of their game, called Arena Football. "Arena football has a real chance of becoming an Olympic sport," says Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys. "There is much less money required . . . and you don't need the enormous infrastructure required of NFL games. It would appeal to an international audience."

Its not cricket, but there's a lot of money riding on it becoming a big hit on this side of the pond.