‘It’s still up for grabs,’ say counties, despite city cricket vote

Richard Gould, Surrey’s chief executive, has led calls for the ECB to remember the interests of the sport’s traditional fans, as the battle for the future of county cricket intensified in the wake of Wednesday’s historic meeting at Lord’s.

Surrey were one of three clubs – Kent and Sussex being the other two – who went against the majority in what has been described as an “informal” vote to consider plans for a new eight-team city-based league to be established from 2018 onwards.

However, despite an apparently emphatic 16-3 verdict in favour of the proposals tabled by the ECB hierarchy, several clubs have since made a point of insisting that nothing has yet been agreed, emphasising that their members will be consulted before any further decisions are taken.

Gould, however, believes that the yes voters have backed themselves into a corner by accepting a situation in which there are no alternatives left on the table.

“There is still a huge amount of detail to be unveiled,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “However, in deciding on the future direction of the game, we wanted more than one option to be considered at the next stage. Other counties, however, disagreed and needed to see only one option.

“It’s not what we wanted, but it is what we got, and it is now all about making a success of the new position.”

Gould added that many Surrey members had already made it clear to him that they would be uncomfortable if “another team, under another name” were to play their home matches at The Kia Oval under the new proposals. Yorkshire’s fans, he suggested, would feel similarly aggrieved if Headingley were to host a non-county side.

However, Gould denied comments made by Essex’s …

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