No English cricket season in a generation has started with such an air of uncertainty as this one. Just as nobody knew where Kerry Packer’s World Series would take the game in 1978, so the Twenty20 revolution has everybody, players and administrators alike, in a panic that they might miss out on the riches the new format promises.

There are differences between then and now. In 1978 the atmosphere in some county dressing rooms towards Packer signatories was quite menacing. Dennis Amiss was made to feel very unwelcome by teammates at Warwickshire. So was Tony Greig by some at Sussex. Now the players stand largely shoulder to shoulder. The resentment is directed at the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for discouraging them from joining the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL). They are also being asked to wait until after the 2009 Ashes series before signing up to the officially sanctioned Indian Premier League (IPL).

The hostility may be exaggerated. Of those who have recently criticised the ECB for its stance, Sean Morris, of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, would not be doing his job if he didn’t speak up for the right of his members to earn a living. Chris Adams, the Sussex captain, must have been agitated at the possibility of losing Mushtaq Ahmed after his match-winning bowler signed for the ICL. And nothing Kevin Pietersen says should be taken literally.

In fact the pay differential between the IPL and county cricket is not as great as it might appear, hence the ability of so many English county cricketers - Mark Ramprakash puts the figure at between 20 and 30 - to receive but not yet take up offers from the Indian leagues in favour of continuing to play county cricket.

Justin Langer also opted to postpone his involvement with IPL to fulfil his commitment to captain Somerset. Morne Morkel, the South Africa bowler, will play for Yorkshire in 2008 and only join the Rajasthan Royals in 2009, when they will pay him £30,000 if he appears in all their matches.

The sense of uncertainty is great because the English domestic season and the IPL season overlap so thoroughly. Everybody has to choose between the two. Broadly, this has led to English players sticking with their county employers while leading overseas stars, such as Shane Warne, abandon county cricket for India’s riches.

As a result, one of the features of this county season will be a dearth of A-list foreigners. The clubs had, in any case, agreed to restrict themselves to one overseas player apiece, but now even these few slots are filled with less-than-glamorous names. Some have played no Tests at all.

When the LV County Championship begins on Wednesday, there will be not one foreigner on show who can boast a great Test-match CV. Danish Kaneria, the leg-spinner who has captured more than 200 Test wickets for Pakistan, does not arrive at Essex until late May. Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka’s most prolific Test batsman, is expected to join Derbyshire in June at the earliest. Sanath Jayasuriya, whose run record Jayawardene broke, will play only Twenty20s for Warwickshire in June and July.

Even the New Zealand and South Africa touring parties have taken hits. New Zealand arrive this month without a clutch of senior players, including captain Daniel Vettori and his deputy, Brendon McCullum, who have opted for an extra week of IPL. Shaun Pollock, South Africa’s most successful bowler, has retired from international cricket to play IPL and commentate for Sky TV.

Such is the febrile mood that even at this late stage ECB officials are not ruling out raising the limit on overseas players for the popular Twenty20 Cup so that it might better replicate the IPL.

Without extra revenue from an improved media deal to cover such a jazzed-up “English Premier League”, it is hard to see how the smaller counties could compete for talent in the marketplace at such short notice. Such a rule change would be grossly unfair on them. Further down the line - in other words, come the start of the next media deal in 2010 – it looks a racing certainty that an all-singing, all-dancing English Premier League will hold centre stage.

The proposals for more domestic Twenty20 cricket put forward by the Domestic Structure Review Group last week were unsatisfactory and have in effect been jettisoned. The ECB is now looking at other ideas, and although many people are growing impatient, it does have some time to try to get things right ahead of the serious negotiating over the next broadcasting deal.

There is no shortage of change on other fronts. Every major county ground is in the process of improving its facilities after the ECB’s decision to inject £30m over five years, in order that they all have floodlights and that international venues possess state-of-the-art drainage systems.

Technology will be to the fore on the field, as a referrals system will be trialled – provided the two national boards agree – during the England versus South Africa Test series, while umpires will be miked up for televised Pro40 matches to enlighten viewers and commentators. In the county championship the required daily quota of overs has dropped from 104 to 96.

Two counties have former prominent England figures running their coaching staff, with Ashley Giles in charge at Warwickshire and Matthew Maynard at Glamorgan. Chris Read, Dimitri Mascarenhas and Rikki Clarke, all of whom have played for the national team in recent times, have been appointed new captains of county clubs, Clarke having moved from Surrey to Derbyshire to lead them. England bowlers to have switched to nearby teams include Stuart Broad (Leicestershire to Nottinghamshire) and Simon Jones (Glamorgan to Worcestershire).

Defying the theory that the game is getting faster and more physical, several old-stagers have raised eyebrows by popping up at new homes. Shaun Udal had no sooner retired from Hampshire than Middlesex snapped him up on a two-year contract. Ian Salisbury’s creaking knees have not prevented him joining Warwickshire for two years.

Udal is 39, Salisbury 38. Jason Gallian has moved to his third county, Essex, at the age of 36, while Chris Lewis has resigned for Surrey, purely for their Twenty20 campaign, at the age of 40.

Counties don’t need to recruit old-timers to annoy people who think they should be doing more to develop young talent. Even if the limit of one overseas player per team holds fast, there will be no shortage of non-England-qualified players on show via the Kolpak and European Union loopholes.

The worst culprits are again likely to be Leicestershire and Northamptonshire. They finished bottom of the performance-related fee payments table in 2007. These payments are based on the extent to which clubs promote England-qualified players and coaches, among other things.

Northants received £488,277 and Leicestershire £500,843, nearly £200,000 less than the top-ranked county, Middlesex.

Five to watch

Michael Carberry, Hampshire

Good winter with England Lions puts him behind only Owais Shah as next batsman in line for international recognition

Steve Harmison, Durham

Chairman of selectors Geoff Miller has given him a vote of support; could take lots of early-season wickets for his county

James Harris, Glamorgan

Bowling star at the recent Under19 World Cup in Malaysia, and doesn’t turn 18 until next month

Chris Jordan, Surrey

Allrounder who showed talent and temperament in first season in 2007, aged 18. Eligible for England and West Indies

Adil Rashid, Yorkshire

The best young spinner in the country and a capable batsman. England need him to come through

Twenty20 turmoil

DERBYSHIRE Mahela Jayawardene (IPL) misses seven weeks

DURHAM Dale Benkenstein (ICL) cleared to play

GLAMORGAN Jason Gillespie (ICL) cleared

GLOUCESTERSHIRE Hamish Marshall (ICL) cleared

HAMPSHIRE Dmitri Mascarenhas, inset, (IPL) misses two weeks

KENT Justin Kemp (ICL) blocked

LEICESTERSHIRE Jeremy Snape (IPL) out until June 4. Paul Nixon (ICL) cleared

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE Nicky Boje (ICL) cleared. Andrew Hall (ICL) blocked

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE David Hussey (IPL) out seven weeks. Chris Read (ICL) cleared

SOMERSET Justin Langer (IPL) available throughout

SURREY Saqlain Mushtaq (ICL) cleared. Mohammad Asif (IPL) barred

SUSSEX Mushtaq Ahmed and Murray Goodwin (both ICL) cleared

WARWICKSHIRE Darren Maddy and Boyd Rankin (both ICL) cleared

WORCESTERSHIRE Vikram Solanki (ICL) cleared

YORKSHIRE Rana Naved (ICL) cleared. Morne Morkel (IPL) available

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