Legendary Sri Lankan spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan has said England's Twenty20 format is lagging behind its worldwide equivalents.

Muralitharan, 40, who is in his second season with Gloucestershire, believes the English game would benefit from adopting the same franchise format used in the Indian Premier League.

He added that although England introduced cricket worldwide they are now old-fashioned.

Since its inception in 2003, the game has been adapted worldwide, taking on several different guises.

Muralitharan starts his second spell with Gloucestershire today against local rivals Somerset, and believes merging the two counties to become a t20 franchise would be a good move.