that there is 'work to be done'

Counties rushed to backtrack on their support for city cricket yesterday as the ECB’s vision for a revolutionary new Twenty20 competition was again mired in doubt and confusion.

ECB powerbrokers Tom Harrison and Colin Graves believed they had been triumphant on Wednesday when they gained a 16-3 vote in favour of the controversial new tournament at a meeting of county and MCC chairmen and chief executives.

Yet the move was rapidly followed by counties attempting to appease their support by saying they had only voted for more information on an innovation that would see the introduction of the likes of London and Manchester teams.

ECB brokers Tom Harrison (right) and Colin Graves (centre left) believed they were successful

Essex were typical of the mood, with their chairman John Faragher saying: ‘This is not cast in stone. We’ve given the go-ahead to go down the road of this proposal but no more than that and there is work to be done.

‘We don’t want to be dinosaurs but we have to get this right. I have reservations and it’s not strictly true to say we voted yes. But Colin Graves has to make it work because it’s his neck that’s on the line over this.’

Clearly there is much for Harrison and Graves to do if they are going to overcome the last remaining obstacle at the full ECB meeting on October 18.