Having battled with an unwieldy system for running first-class cricket in England and worked with dedication for a better one, the man known throughout the game by his initials A. C. will have been delighted at the outcome of a meeting held before the dinner to approve the articles of association for the new First Class Forum.

With only minor alterations the articles laid down in the report of the David Morgan working party were unanimously approved under the guidance of Lord MacLaurin, whose first official gathering this was as chairman of the board.

Board members were impressed by the speed with which the chairman of Tesco dealt with the business in hand. The procedures for electing the main committees on the new England and Wales Board, which replaces the TCCB next January, were reportedly agreed with barely a murmur of dissent.

Richard Little, the TCCB spokesman, said afterwards: ``The committees on the new board will be smaller and therefore more likely to agree a consensus more quickly. I am especially pleased that the cricket advisory committee, which currently has 24 members, will in future have only 13 under David Acfield's continued chairmanship, yet every facet of cricket will be represented on the committee.''

The unanimity yesterday suggests that Warwickshire have decided for the time being to swim with the tide. Their committee remains unhappy that the FCF will have the right to approve all matters of cricketing and financial importance before the ECB's management committee can make decisions, in effect as an agency controlling the game from outside.

They object also to the proposal of simple majority for FCF decisions, believing that the 13 counties without Test grounds will continue to feed undeservedly on the fruits provided by the board.