July 10th sees the first Zone 6 City Cricket event. Teams of six players selected from three counties in the area roughly around the cities involved (for example Manchester will include players from Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lancashire) will play an abbreviated form of the game.

If the event is an attempt to reach out to a new audience then it is to be applauded. If however, it is an attempt to sow the seeds of the demise of county cricket under the respectable guise of missionary activity, then perhaps it should be resisted.

The last line of a recent PCA media release quotes from David Lloyd: "In the late 60s, Cedric Rhodes, ex-Lancashire stalwart who was a bit of a visionary and who held some outspoken views on cricket, once remarked that the future of cricket lies with city cricket…."

This phrase, together with earlier comments from the PCA, suggests that this initiative is more than an attempt to raise some money and the profile of cricket in the inner cities. It could be the first step towards undermining the counties and replacing them with amalgamated teams based around the big cities.

"The original aim was to raise money for the PCA benevolent fund," Steve Marsh, the former Kent wicket-keeper and now a leading light within the PCA, told CricInfo.

"We hope and expect the event to be a success and we'd love to extend it. Perhaps it could cover two weeks and encompass 18 cities, or involve teams from Sydney, London and Cape Town.

"I do think this is a sign of things to come," Marsh admits. "We want to attract new supporters to cricket – while retaining the established ones – and we think that many people will associate more with cities than counties."

But is it, I ask, an experiment that gives us our first look at the future of domestic cricket in England?

"It's not our aim to but if that happens then great," he replies. "There is a feeling that we need to be more competitive. We can learn from the Australian and South African examples. If we had reduced staffs then yes, it could well become competitive.

"If we took players from Middlesex, Surrey and Essex and formed one London team you'd have a Test-strength side, that would enjoy higher quality cricket against other strong teams. That would prepare the players better for Test cricket."

"I'm not sure if that is the view of the PCA, but it is the view of most players," Marsh says.

Some may say that we selected the best players from the 18 counties in the last Test and still didn't have a Test-strength side. The question follows: is it necessary for us to contemplate losing the counties in order to improve at Test level? Wouldn't we be better served by supporting the clubs (there are several in inner city areas) in their attempts to reach out to new spectators, and to talk up county cricket? Ask John Bracewell or Mark Alleyne how much respect they feel they've gained for their unprecedented success in one-day cricket.

It's an unusual union that recommends unemployment for its members (what would Scargill say?), but it comes as no surprise to Somerset Chief Executive, Peter Anderson.

"They are so elitist," he said. "David Graveney [the Chief Executive of the PCA] couldn't give a toss about junior players in county cricket.

"If I was a junior player and I was paying my subs' into the PCA I'd be going to their meetings and demanding to know why they continually run down the profession they're supposed to be protecting. These people who failed to get a job in the corporate world think they can run cricket."

"We're used to the PCA telling us that they play too much cricket, but now they've arranged to play more!" he adds.

Anderson isn't impressed by the support of the ECB for the counties. He has been given assurances that counties will not be merged, but fears that there may be a hidden agenda.

"We make 47% of the income for our club ourselves, and we could do even better if they let us. The ECB are moving in the direction of putting out regional sides to play the tourists, which means another of our big days will go. And then they say we survive on a hand-out!" he says in exasperation.

"There has been a concerted effort by leading cricket writers to destabilize county cricket. They've tinkered here and there and brought in two divisions, and now we keep hearing that regional cricket is the way to go.

"There is an uneasy alliance with David Graveney and his committments to the ECB and the PCA. The ECB tell me that they don't want to get rid of the counties but I just don't know what their real long term plans may be."

ECB spokesman Andrew Walpole had this response: "The ECB is dedicated to protecting the 18 first-class counties. We support the PCA's initiative to reach out to new audiences within the inner cities. The fact that the event is part of our fixture list illustrates that it can co-exist with county cricket."

There is an oft-repeated myth that no-one is interested in county cricket or that county grounds are always empty; that the standards are low and that the games aren't competitive – all nonsense. The county members, who support the clubs financially and in spirit, have not been consulted. They do not want their clubs undermined, particularly if it is done in disingenuous fashion.

"I expect we will become a plc in due course," Anderson reveals, encouraging the view that the current status quo is endangered.

"Cricket will never be the same," the Zone 6 adverts tell us. Isn't it better the way it is?

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