5 pots, with groups of 8 to get picked per group through all the leagues, did Barry Hearn have anything to do with this.
8 Remaining Premiership.
Top 8 of Championship
Bottom 2Championship, top 6 of div1
Bottom 4 div1, top 4 of div2,
Bottom 6 div2, h league, l league.
With draw on BT sport.
You can't pick and choose nearest teams from all leagues but could loosely split each group in two, especially the bottom 2 pools.
This Cup has always seemed to be in the shadow of the Scottish cup.
The best 16 in the country go into a knock out comp. This will be harder to win than the Scottish cup but will still give all clubs a bash at it.
Should push up the Cup sponsorship value too.
I think the powers that be have done well thinking this one up and showing the courage to bring it to life.