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Another county competition of 25 overs a side, packed into 3.5 hours on summer evenings, is likely to give exciting, quickfire competition to new audiences but simultaneously militate against the development of potential Test cricketers from next season.

The constant battle between what is good for the production of a worthy Test side and what is commercially viable for county clubs was never more evident than in yesterday's spring meeting of the First Class Forum at Lord's, which also rejected the idea of visiting captains having an automatic right to bat or field first in championship matches.

As the wave of innovation continues to surge over English cricket, much of it admittedly for the good, the things which matter most, like a balanced programme and decent pitches, are being swiftly eroded. Everyone was agreed that too many pitches were unsatisfactory last season and that too many four-day games ended early. But given the chance to dispense with the toss to avoid the preparation of pitches favouring the home side, the counties voted instead to keep the status quo, citing the fact that with the points for a win reduced from 16 to 12 next year, the 25-point penalty for any county found guilty of producing a seriously underprepared pitch becomes more draconian.

The new tournament for all 18 first-class counties would probably be played in mid-season between 5pm and 8.30 to attract home-going workers and families. It would be added to the NatWest, the CGU National League, the County Championship and to a revamped Benson and Hedges SuperCup. The counties must choose by May 13 between reverting to the original Benson and Hedges format or retaining the eight-county SuperCup and introducing the evening league. There was a feeling, said Tim Lamb, the England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive, that with five fewer days of cricket next season in the two main leagues, ``the one-day programme is a few days light''.

As expected there was no resolution of the financial debate between the ECB and the Consortium of Test Match Grounds over staging agreements for international matches, but representatives of both sides were agreed that yesterday's meeting had enhanced the prospects of a satisfactory compromise.

Lamb could report no consensus, however, on the final mix of county matches from next season onwards. What is certain is that while the England team will be cacooned from the effects of too much cricket by the new England contracts which will finally be agreed on May 13, the younger players hoping to take their places are going to be even more stretched in future by the perceived need to find new and younger audiences for county cricket.

``County cricket is a UKP 30 million business in its own right,'' argued Lamb yesterday in an attempt to explain why the ECB set out last year to reduce the amount of cricket played by professionals and will end up two seasons later with considerably more, especially when the expanded international programme is taken into account.