Comment by Yorkshire CCC reporter Graham Hardcastle

 It seems almost certain that the County Championship will be contested over 14 matches from 2014 onwards, despite the England and Wales Cricket Board wanting more time to discuss an overhaul of the domestic structure.

It was widely thought that the board would ratify plans to cut the Championship from the current 16-match format last week when they sat down at Lord’s.

David Morgan, their former chairman, has also proposed to scrap 40-over cricket in favour of a return to 50 overs to mirror the international game as well as each team playing 14 Twenty20 matches per season.

But further discussions will take place on January 23 with representatives from each county present, although the chances are that 14 matches will be accepted.

It seems most county cricket fans are unhappy with the reduction of the flagship Championship.

The most recent changes in 2009, to increase the number of points for a win to 16 and ban the use of the heavy roller after the toss has taken place in order to liven up the pitches, have contributed to exciting cricket.

There have been nail-biting four-day thrillers left, right and centre over the last two years.

And, with England top of the world Test rankings, we have a Championship to be proud of.

Not that I’m completely against the idea of a major change, however, because we’ve seen it all before.

From the move from three-day to four-day cricket to the switch to two divisions, the Championship has survived and prospered.

But I hate the idea of each team not being able to play all of their opponents twice through a season. And, with 18 counties and 14 matches, that is what will happen.

How can you be judged as the best team in the country when you play some teams twice and others once?

I have been racking my brains but I still haven’t found the perfect formula.

But the best of a bad bunch is to have an eight-team top division and a ten-team second.

Division Two may have to be treated as a sacrificial lamb and have teams playing everybody once and others twice.

If it means that all teams in Division One can play each other twice, then so be it.

I support the idea of a return to 50-over cricket, but not the increase of Twenty20 cricket.

My ideal domestic structure would be 16 Championship matches, ten Twenty20s and a knockout one-day competition.

That would definitely reduce the amount of cricket played, which is the goal.