The introduction of a salary cap to county cricket will be discussed tomorrow by a meeting of county chairmen as the ECB looks to keep spiralling players’ wages in check. But several counties will go into the meeting hugely frustrated by the lack of information they have been given by the ECB on a range of proposed changes to alter the game’s finances. One county chief executive has described as “extraordinary” the failure of ECB management to provide comprehensive details to enable counties to make an informed choice on potentially radical proposals.

A 65-page document outlining the scheme, entitled Team Salary Payments and Collective Bargaining Proposals, suggests a limit on county salaries of £1.1m. The document was delivered to counties on June 28, giving them just a week to decide on fundamental changes to the way their finances are run. The timing was hardly ideal, either, coming in the middle of the Twenty20 Cup competition, the busiest time of year for the counties.

But the biggest source of frustration has been a lack of comprehensive information included in the document. The proposals suggest a pooling of income from counties and international cricket that would then be centrally distributed, a pool that would include revenue from county ticket sales, sponsorship and membership. This income is estimated at around £90m. In the proposals given to counties, however, only 30 per cent of the distribution of this money is accounted for, leaving counties to wonder what will happen to the remaining 70 per cent.

“This is a proposal for a fundamental change to the way the game is run and we simply haven’t been given enough information to make a reasonable decision,” Tom Sears, the Derbyshire chief executive, said. “I find it extraordinary that the ECB are expecting us to make such an important choice when we’re not being told what the consequences of that choice will be.”

Sears has asked senior figures in the ECB management, including David Collier, the chief executive, and Brian Havill, the finance director, to provide further details, but none has been forthcoming. “It’s extremely frustrating,” he said. “I just don’t understand why we’re not being given more information.”

The salary cap figure of £1.1m has been calculated to find the middle ground between the smaller counties, who pay considerably less than this sum in wages, and the Test Match Ground counties, who have the most financial muscle.

The previous time that a salary cap was discussed was in 2002, when the proposal was rejected by ten votes to eight. The issue is sure to provoke another heated discussion, but counties are concerned that a fair debate cannot be held when so many participants remain in the dark about key aspects of the ECB’s plans.