GILES CLARKE, the ECB chairman, is planning to block any discussion of new proposals for an English Premier League that effectively excludes nine of the 18 counties. “It is fairly obvious there is no real support for this proposal outside a few counties,” said Clarke, below, yesterday. “It may not even be discussed by the management board.”

A senior member of the board which meets on Tuesday to discuss the future of domestic cricket has said that the idea - in which 18 county sides would be replaced by nine franchises, who would take part in a 57-match Twenty20 tournament over 25 days from 2010 onwards - was “manifest nonsense” and that David Stewart, the Surrey chairman and co-author with Keith Bradshaw, chief executive of MCC, faced a conflict of interests.

There was some support from the MCC committee for the pair yesterday. “The directors of the ECB are entitled to put forward ideas,” a club source said. “This should not be left to the IPL or a Texas billionaire. Because it is a different model does not mean it should not be looked at.” But MCC chairman Charles Fry was understood to be writing to the ECB to distance the club from Bradshaw's paper.

The existence of all 18 first-class counties is guaranteed by the ECB’s constitution. The document drawn up by Stewart and Bradshaw does not suggest any county be disbanded, but does advocate an EPL being played only on the nine international grounds. The clubs that own these grounds would receive greater shares of revenue - estimated at £85m per year through TV rights from England and India. Stewart insisted this would be to allow them to continue developing their stadia. The nine “city” teams would be drawn from players from all 18 county sides.

Many executives from the smaller counties without international grounds greeted the scheme with hostility and the split on the ECB board reflects the febrile atmosphere among administrators as they confront Twenty20’s potential riches. Despite the opposition of county chairmen - “some counties are calling for blood”, said one - Stewart and Bradshaw are hopeful of winning over the sceptics. Any scheme needs a two-thirds majority to be passed. A final decision is likely in several weeks.