Counties are prepared to risk missing out on the inaugural £2.5 million Twenty20 Champions League in the autumn by picking their “rebel” Indian Cricket League (ICL) players when the domestic competition begins tomorrow. Finals Day on July 26 could become a mockery if all four contenders are ineligible to compete for the global prize.

Only Essex, Middlesex and Somerset may be “clean” if Lalit Modi, the vice-chairman of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) carries out his threat to ensure that “any ICL player playing for any team categorically disqualifies that team from participating. No exceptions will be made under any circumstances.”

But counties contacted by The Times are adopting a tactic of safety in numbers, in the absence, they believe, of clear instructions from the ECB. More than 20 players are affected, including Justin Kemp, of Kent, Murray Goodwin, of Sussex, Andre Adams, of Nottinghamshire, Dale Benkenstein, of Durham, and Stuart Law, of Lancashire.

The ECB has not given a specific answer to the critical question of whether Modi's words will be enforced, saying that Cricket Australia is the organisation charged with drafting the rules and regulations. One county chief executive said: “You do not get guidance from the ECB, you get veiled threats in ambiguous statements.”

Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, insisted that counties have been given “very clear direction” on ICL players. “It is entirely a matter for them how they pick their sides,” he said. “We have explained things at length in a previous communiqué and there has been very clear correspondence from David Collier [the ECB chief executive].”

However, a spokesman for Lancashire, who signed Lou Vincent, an ICL player, for the Twenty20 Cup, said: “The position is not clear to the counties at all. If it is up to Cricket Australia to come up with rules and regs, then maybe they would like to get a wiggle on because this thing is about to start. Our priority is winning the Twenty20 Cup, which means picking our strongest team, including ICL players. If we get to the final, it will be up to the tournament organisers whether we play in the Champions League. If they do not want to see Andrew Flintoff and James Anderson out there, that is up to them.”

The ICL, which is scheduled to resume in September, has caused endless trouble for the ECB in trying to stay on the right side of the all-powerful BCCI. The ECB was unable to block players such as Chris Read and Paul Nixon from participating in 2007, while others successfully overturned their bans on playing county cricket this season.

A possible compromise is to bar players but not their teams for the first year, pending agreement on Cricket Australia's proposals. Mick Newell, the Nottinghamshire director of cricket, said: “I cannot believe that 15 counties will come to an agreement not to play ICL guys. We will pick our best team and get on with it.”

Gus Mackay, the Sussex chief executive, said: “Unless we hear otherwise we will go out there to win the tournament with our strongest team.”

David Harker, the Durham chief executive, said: “Dale Benkenstein will be playing for us unless we are told explicitly that he must not. So far, we have not heard that.”

The winning semi-finalists at the Rose Bowl next month will meet the top two from India, Australia and South Africa in the 15-match event starting in late September. Peter Moores, the England head coach, has welcomed the Champions League initiative. “The more competitions we have at county level that put pressure on players to deliver can only be good for England,” he said yesterday.