Chris Adams today pledged to try and lead Sussex to success in the Pro40.

But the Sharks skipper admits he has serious doubts about whether there is room for the new event in county cricket's packed calendar.

Sussex host Warwickshire at Hove this evening (4.40pm) in the first of eight 40-overs-per-side games between now and the end of the season.

Adams' men are in division one of a competition which represents part two of a reorganisation of domestic limited-overs cricket this year.

The home-and-away National League has been ditched and replaced by more C&G Trophy group matches in the first half of the season and the Pro40 in the second. Counties will hope this halfway-house format hits the spot where the cricketing passions of 50-overs purists and Twenty20 fanatics intersect.

Already, though, it has had a revolutionary impact in one respect.

For the first time in memory, Adams has complained at having to play too much cricket.

The Sussex skipper said: "I think the majority of cricketers in the country would see this as the least desirable competition, although that may change.

"It's here and we've got to play it so we will embrace it and go out to try and win it.

"But I believe the amount of cricket we have to play at the moment is extreme.

"I've never been someone who has come out and said we play too much cricket. I've always just got on with it.

"But now we have such a large chunk of Twenty20, and quite rightly so, and that means the amount of cricket we play at the start of the season and in the second half, in terms of the Championship as well and all the travelling involved, is just too much.

"It's too much to ask of the players and the coaches whose job it is to prepare the players.

"The Pro40 is a competition which does not sit well with the values of the game.

"Playing 50-over cricket in the C&G is right because that is what they play at international level.

"To play at least eight games of 50-over cricket is good because it gives Duncan Fletcher and David Graveney a chance to see players in that sort of competition.

"Twenty20 has really kicked off. It's great to play in front of a big crowd. It brings in revenue and the competition has its own merits.

"Let's wait and see with Pro40. There may be spectators there in the wake of Twenty20.

"I suppose it is aimed at the old Sunday afternoon slot.

"But if there is a competition we could lose it would be the Pro40."

There are obvious examples of how a little of the shortfall from dropping Pro40 could be made up while still allowing more time between games.

Plans are already in place to introduce C&G Trophy semifinals next season.

The Twenty20 really needs two more group games, which would mean counties playing home and away against all other teams in their group.

Sussex are also involved in a mini Twenty20 late in the season and Adams believes teams who do not make the C&G semis could arrange similar events if they wanted, giving a chance to rotate squads and give players experience.

By contrast, the Sussex skipper believes the four-day game is in great shape.

He said: "The Championship is in a very healthy state. It is producing quality, exciting cricket. I can't see any change is needed there."

Gates open at 3pm.

If you remember the old John Player League, then Pro40 will not be a complicated format. Having said that, relegation and promotion have been introduced since those long Sunday afternoons when John Arlott and Peter Walker used to patrol the boundary for BBC2.

  • 40 over per side, no more than eight overs per bowler.
  • Two divisions of nine, teams play each other once.
  • Two up, two down automatically plus a play-off between seventh in division one and third in division two.
  • Only two fielders allowed outside the 30-yard fielding circle in the first 15 overs of each innings. Five permitted from then on.
  • Two points for a win, one for a tie or no-result. The fewest-wickets-lost method of deciding a winner when scores are level will not be used apart from in the play-off.
  • Scheduled hours for floodlit matches, like tonight's, are 4.40-10.20pm. Afternoon hours are 1.45-7.25pm though this moves forward by an hour in September.