Roses Rivals Reject Merger But Thorny Regional Issue is Still Alive

Cricket's two great Roses rivals, Yorkshire and Lancashire, have kept the issue of regional Twenty20 cricket alive by rejecting it for themselves, but suggesting that it might be inevitable for smaller counties when the English Premier League is launched in 2010.

Their stance will further un-nerve rural counties such as Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire as a campaign begins among counties with international grounds to abandon the traditional 18-team format.

Sean Morris, the chief executive of the Professional Cricketers Association, sparked a contentious debate when he floated some form of regional cricket as an option. Morris admitted he did not "automatically envisage the EPL being played by the 18 first-class counties".

Now Yorkshire and Lancashire have given him limited support. Stewart Regan, Yorkshire's chief executive, said: "I don't think Yorkshire and Lancashire would play as a merged side. Fifteen per cent of cricket is played in Yorkshire. But some of the smaller counties, in the Midlands and the South-West, may decide it is in their best interests to merge. I don't think 18 teams is workable."

Jim Cumbes, Lancashire's chief executive offered a similar response. "Sitting in the second city, I don't think we actually need regional cricket in this part of the world but I could see it working in other parts of the country."