Botham lambasted the “greed” of the administrators and questioned the logic behind having back-to-back Twenty20 World Cup.

“They are playing too much Twenty20 right now. We have just had a Twenty20 World Cup and within a year we’re going to have another in the Caribbean. It is greed, greed, greed. That is what will kill the game, the greed of the authorities,” Botham said in an interview to be published in the December issue of The Wisden Cricketer magazine.

“Twenty20 has its place but not on the international stage. It is a domestic and franchise sport. I don’t want to see the best players in the world standing there and slogging. Twenty 20 is bastardising the game,” said Botham.