The ECB has to attract the biggest names to play in England during the summer - and win financial backing from businessmen to pay for them - to compete with the Indian Premier League (IPL), says the head of the players’ union.

Sean Morris, the chief executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, has been in the job for only seven weeks, but having spent much of that visiting every county and speaking to players, he has a firm idea of the future. “Almost everyone is talking about India,” he said. “We shouldn’t be frightened of embracing the challenge, nor should we just tinker. We’ve got to have a globally appealing product and that means signing the likes of Adam Gilchrist or M. S. Dhoni.

“Having a lot of ordinary overseas players doesn’t make sense. You’re paying them a lot of money and that goes straight out of the game in this country. But if you bring in the best in the world, that is different. That will put bums on seats and mean huge crowds, which will ultimately benefit everyone who plays here.”

Attracting the cream will cost more than most counties can afford, but Morris sees links with business as the answer, whether it is in funding city franchises or the existing counties. Sir Allen Stanford, the Texan billionaire, has been holding talks with the ECB about a partnership, but Morris thinks that this could mean more than just a mooted England versus Stanford’s “All Stars” in the Caribbean.

“Is he really going to put $20-$50 million on the table just for a tournament in the West Indies?” Morris asked. “I think he is interested in creating something like the World Golf Championships, an exclusive competition with the best players taking part. June and July is the only time of the year when all the best players in the world are available. We should have them playing in England. And if we can persuade a Texan billionaire to pump money into our game, who else can we involve?”

More money going into the English game would mean that more could be spent on helping journeyman players to find a career after cricket. Morris, who played for four years for Hampshire in the early 1990s, said: “At the moment the ECB gives us £75,000 to spend on personal development. That’s what I’d like to spend on three people, not 300.”

Morris added that counties should bring in 12-month contracts for players - only three counties operate them - “to increase professionalism, strengthen the conditioning and fitness of players and allow them to work on their development”.

He also wants to counter the problem of player burnout at the top level by sending England Lions, rather than the senior team, to play against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe and in the ICC Champions Trophy.