A pre-season poll of county professionals, 80 per cent of whom responded, has revealed that players want the NatWest Pro40 League scrapped and the minimum number of overs in the LV County Championship reduced from 104 to 96 per day. The findings, published by the Professional Cricketers’ Association yesterday, will be forwarded to the ECB’s Domestic Structure Review Group.

The players would like first-class and limited-overs cricket to mirror Test matches and one-day internationals more closely, and for the intensity of county matches in both forms of the game to be maintained throughout the season, with fewer meaningless matches.

The professionals’ view is that the Pro40 League and the Friends Provident Trophy could be replaced by a 50-over competition involving three conferences of six counties. The leading eight teams would then contest quarter-finals and semi-finals, with a showpiece final at Lord’s. Only 22 per cent of cricketers felt that the twin combination of 40 and 50-over cricket works well.

There was near-unanimous support for a reduction of overs in the championship. This could lead to three two-hour sessions, as in Test matches, and be a natural sequitur to this year’s introduction of a new ball at 80 overs. Theoretically, good bowlers, rather than fill-ins, could operate throughout the day, especially in the lengthy afternoon session, which can last for three hours.