Sussex are among the counties rebelling against the latest proposals for a reform of county cricket.

Chairman David Green was unable to attend an unofficial meeting of the 18 first-class counties in Bristol earlier this week after being held up in traffic on the M25.

But he confirmed that Sussex had voted against plans put forward by the ECB's Domestic Structure Reform Group to merge the four-day Championship and one-day National League and reduce the number of county players.

The DSRG, which is chaired by former Essex player David Acfield, saw months of work thrown out unanimously by the county chairmen who then delivered another snub to the ECB.

Having already decided not to invite chairman David Morgan and chief executive Tim Lamb to their meeting to allow for a frank exchange of opinions, they then agreed to set up their own review group as a rival to the DSRG.

The DSRG had also recommended a reduction in the number of first-class matches from 16 to 12 while their plans for a merger of the two main competitions would have seen two divisions remain but points accumulated from four-day and one-day games used to determine the overall champions.

A root-and-branch audit of county cricket seems inevitable, even though it is only four years since the divisional split was introduced and only 12 months since the successful introduction of Twenty20 cricket.

Green was planning further discussions later this week about the counties' next move with Mike Soper, the chairman of both Surrey and the first-class forum which looks after the interest of the county clubs.

Sussex support the current two-division structure, although they would like the number of teams promoted and relegated reduced from three to two.

"I wasn't a supporter of two divisions but I am now," said Green.

"The intensity is there all season whereas in the past by August a lot of teams had nothing to play for, were demotivated and the cricket they played was soft.

"I think the number of counties who are promoted and relegated each season should be reduced to two and it is wrong that the team which finishes second in Division Two gets prize money and the one which comes third in Division One does not."

The county would also back any proposal whereby the amount of subsidy from the ECB, which accounted for over half of Sussex's overall income last year, would be dependant on the number of England players they produced at all levels from youth cricket right up to the Test team.

"Cricket is an industry in this country, albeit a small one," added Green. "The counties are the shareholders, if you like, and the money we get from the central pot goes towards finding and nurturing the international players of the future.

"James Kirtley, who came through our youth system and is now playing for England is a good example in Sussex of how it works."

Green likes an idea put forward this week by former England opener Geoff Boycott for a return to three-day Championship matches which would start earlier and finish later in the day to make up for the loss of playing time on the fourth day.

He said: "It would give players more time off for practice and gets over the logistics of travelling up and down the country to get to the next game more or less after the previous one had finished."

Any proposal which would cut down travelling and increase time available for practice would find favour with the players, a number of whom are also concerned about the increasing number of non-English qualified cricketers flooding into English cricket.

Sussex were facing the prospect of a third successive washout at New Road today.

Play was due to begin on time against Worcestershire today, but the forecast rain arrived 30 minutes before the scheduled start.

Rival captains Chris Adams and Ben Smith delayed the toss which keeps alive the prospect of a one-innings game with 14 points at stake if the rain relents.

Tomorrow's forecast is more encouraging but with the water table so high it would not need much rain to bring it all back to the surface again.