The ECB is placing the 25 umpires on the first-class panel on 12-month full-time contracts from January 1 to stop them standing in unauthorised events such as the Indian Cricket League. While officials such as Trevor Jesty, Jeff Evans and Nigel Cowley who stood in the ICL last winter will be unable to do so this off season, the ECB's move will delight the broad majority of umpires. They will gain a pay rise of between a quarter and a third of their present deal, increasing salaries to about £35,000.

So keen were the ECB not to offend the Board of Control for Cricket in India that it declined to appoint any of the English ICL umpires to stand in televised cricket or as a fourth official at Tests or one-day internationals this season. Jesty stood in one televised match, but only because Sky made a late switch. The Professional Cricketers' Association's solicitors sent a letter to the ECB saying that the umpires in question had been discriminated against.

The ECB, whose chief executive, David Collier, had a special meeting last month with senior members of the ECB Association of Cricket Officials including Peter Willey, its chairman, is expected to wipe the slate clean from next summer. It was also agreed that, from 2009, umpires, who are on long-term summer contracts at present, will receive an additional fee for standing in televised county matches.

As part of the process to block English umpires from officiating in the ICL this October and November, the ECB is also giving all 25 first-class officials an interim loyalty bonus payment of £8,000 to cover the period between the end of the season and the new year. Any umpire standing in an unauthorised tournament without special dispensation from the ECB would be liable to dismissal for gross misconduct.

Despite the new pay deal, Allan Jones, 60, has decided to take early retirement from the umpiring panel for a variety of reasons. One of them is the prospect of a £30,000 contract for standing in the ICL this winter.