In the ever-changing landscape of English domestic cricket, next summer’s revised county programme will include a new opportunity for gifted young cricketers to catch the attention of county coaches and captains.

The ECB 40 League, effectively a 21st-century version of the old 40-over Sunday League, will feature a team of young hopefuls from club and university cricket, a touring talent show of players desperate to prove to watching judges that they have the cricketing X-factor.

To add to the populist theme, the public are being invited to come up with suggestions for a name for this team, known at present as the ECB Recreational XI. Anyone with a bright idea has until next Monday to submit their entry via the ECB website.

Their fixtures are yet to be finalised, but the recreational team may find themselves playing against Andrew Flintoff, as they were drawn yesterday alongside Lancashire in Group A.

Of the 18 first-class counties six are in each group, with the Netherlands in Group B and Scotland in Group C. Ireland turned down the chance to compete, preferring to concentrate on 50-over international cricket.

Each team will play the other six in their group at home and away, mainly on Sundays, running throughout the summer except for a mid-season break for the revamped Twenty20 tournament, the Friends Provident T20. Group winners and the best second-placed side in the 40-over format will progress to the semi-finals, and the final will be held at Lord’s on September 18.

For the Recreational XI, home matches will be something of a moveable feast, with matches likely to be held at club grounds accessible to their opponents’ supporters. So when they play against Somerset, for example, the game may be held in Devon.

Whatever their new name turns out to be, the Recreational XI could be seen as a spiritual successor to teams such as Minor Counties and British Universities, formerly Combined Universities, who last played in the old Benson & Hedges Cup in 1998. The final Universities team to play county opposition that season included a young batsman from Durham University named Andrew Strauss, tucked away at No 7. In two matches for British Universities, his highest score was 29, so it is safe to assume that he persuaded Middlesex of his talents elsewhere.

The aim of the new team is to strengthen the bridge between club cricket and the county game, a central concern of Mike Gatting, the ECB’s managing director of cricket partnerships. “We want it to be a young team of players who don’t have county contracts, but not too young because we want them to be competitive,” Gatting said. “There will be players from the UCCEs [University Centres of Excellence] along with promising club cricketers, with maybe the odd retired county cricketer as well to bring a bit of experience. But it will be a great opportunity for the younger players to get themselves noticed and to see what’s required at the higher level.”

The make-up of the team is likely to change throughout the season, although a coach and manager will be appointed to provide some continuity. “The northern-based games will probably feature more players from the North, while there is likely to be a southern bias for the games down south,” Gatting said.

In August, counties controversially voted in favour of abandoning 50-over cricket at domestic level, preferring the 40-over game that has traditionally attracted better crowds on Sundays. A sponsor is now being sought for the ECB 40 League.

The 2010 programme

• an unchanged two-division four-day LV County Championship an expanded Twenty20 competition, the Friends Provident T20, to be played in mid-season with two groups of nine (North and South). The top four teams from each group qualify for quarter-finals, from which four teams qualify for finals day in August the ECB 40 League, for which three groups of seven were drawn yesterday, leading to semi-finals and a final in September

Group A ECB Recreational XI, Glamorgan, Lancashire, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex, Worcestershire

Group B Derbyshire, Essex, Gloucestershire, Middlesex, Netherlands, Northamptonshire, Yorkshire

Group C Durham, Hampshire, Kent, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Scotland, Warwickshire