Neil Davidson, the Leicestershire chairman, was rebuked by the ECB yesterday for attributing decisions to its board that were actually made by the old First Class Forum. In a paper circulated to the other 17 first-class counties before Wednesday’s meeting at Loughborough, Davidson claimed that lower-income counties had been unfairly treated since two-division cricket started in 2000 and that board policies had enhanced the advantages enjoyed by counties staging international cricket.

An ECB press release reported a warm welcome from county chairmen for a five-year strategy presented by David Collier, the chief executive, based on an objective assessment of the game’s finances conducted by KPMG, the accountants, and already unanimously endorsed by the board. The release criticised Davidson for “inaccuracies concerning the decision-making process in respect of two-division cricket, Performance Related Fee Payments and Team Salary Payments”. Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, added: “It was deeply regrettable that Mr Davidson saw fit to release a paper which contained factual inaccuracies and ignored the findings of last year’s independent KPMG report, which concluded that the international grounds did not obtain financial benefit after taking into account facility and operating costs from international matches.

“I am delighted by the reception that the financial strategy received from all counties and also from the Recreational Assembly. It is an investment plan which benefits the whole game and is based on objective data produced independently by KPMG.”

The new five-year plan invests in excess of £20 million in all areas of cricket. The main beneficiaries will be community clubs, the Chance to Shine initiative and women’s cricket. There will be money for ground drainage and permanent floodlights on first-class grounds and for coaching.