DAVID GREEN, the chairman of Sussex, the county champions, has called for the introduction of a transfer system in English cricket after claiming that at least six of their players were “tapped up” by other counties last season.

They included Chris Adams, the captain, who this week left Yorkshire “shell-shocked” by pulling out of a lucrative four-year contract as captain and director of professional cricket and returning to Hove, and Murray Goodwin, the former Zimbabwe batsman and leading runscorer last season, who was allegedly approached twice. He has since signed a three-year contract with Sussex. All the approaches were said to have come from counties with Test-match grounds.

“I think the game has to come clean and have a formal transfer system, which has already been discussed by the ECB,” Green, who made the allegations at the club’s championship celebration dinner, said. “Otherwise we will have the richest clubs not paying attention to the rules of the game.”

ECB regulations state that a county must not approach any cricketer registered with another county. A county failing to comply are liable to a fine of between £20,000 and £50,000.

As the competition to stage international matches becomes ever more fierce, Nottinghamshire announced yesterday that they would be spending £8.2 million on upgrading Trent Bridge. The developments, which are scheduled to be completed in time to stage international matches in 2008, will increase the ground’s capacity by 2,142 to 17,500.

Provided that planning permission is granted, Nottinghamshire will begin work after the end of next season on a new stand to replace the West Wing and Parr Stand. The new development will also include permanent floodlights and a new administration block incorporating a replay screen and electronic scoreboard.

Surrey have signed Matt Nicholson, the former Australia fast bowler, as their second overseas player for next season alongside Azhar Mahmood. Nicholson, 32, played for Northamptonshire last season, taking 46 championship wickets and scoring 454 runs.

Kathryn Cross, a 15-year-old seam bowler from Heywood, in Lancashire, has become the first woman to gain a contract with the county’s academy.