Format
Unlike in 2007, the 18 English counties, Ireland and Scotland were divided into four groups of five, based on geographical location. Each side played the other four teams home and away, with the top two sides from each group progressing to the quarter-final stage. A spokesman for the England and Wales Cricket Board, which instigated the changes, explained that the changes "provides more local derbies and less travel for players". The recommendations of the Schofield Report; an investigation into England's 5–0 Ashes defeat, were also cited as a cause for the changes.
Read more about this topic: 2008 Friends Provident Trophy