Graves' power confirmed by counties

Colin Graves will be elected unopposed for the role of ECB Chairman after no other nominations were received by the 18 first-class counties and the MCC before the deadline. Graves, who will step down from the chairmanship of Yorkshire in May, will now be a central figure in devising a new strategy for English cricket in conjunction with the new CEO Tom Harrison.

Among the priorities for the new team at the helm of English cricket will be a review of the future strategy for T20 cricket in England and an examination of whether an 18-team county structure remains the way forward.

Graves has insisted that it is the job of himself and Harrison to lead rather than undertake yet another wide-ranging review, yet that does not mean that the counties will feel honour bound to accept whatever proposals emerge. If they do not, they will find him an assertive foe.

Although he is now set to be elected unopposed, that will not blind him to the fact that his no-nonsense style, and determination to discover the most profitable and impactful solution for England's professional circuit has already encouraged a few whispers of disquiet around the counties.

Those debates are likely to become more pressing when the intentions of himself and Harrison are made clear shortly after the end of the English season. Both have been championed by the outgoing chairman, Giles Clarke, but it would be wrong to assume that both are as wedded to Clarke to the traditions of English cricket.

In Yorkshire, the county he saved from bankruptcy, there is a strong sense that tradition and a commitment to producing England players must be wedded to ambition - a view with which Harrison is likely to find sympathy.

Although Graves is likely to be resistant to any reinvention of English cricket, he is impatient for a greater intensity and connection with the public - and that could mean that smaller, failing counties may have to make that connection or recognise their place in the great scheme of things.

County cricket has succeeded in the past decade in increasing its non-cricket income. It is cricket income - and indeed appeal - to which Graves and Harrison could now turn their attention as they seek to make the professional circuit more relevant in the lives of the casual fan.

Graves' name will now be formally put before the 41 members of ECB, being the chairmen of the first-class counties, the chairmen of the county boards in non first-class counties, the chairman of the Minor Counties Cricket Association and the chairman of MCC. The result will officially be known towards the end of February.

He was proposed by Chris Grant of Derbyshire and seconded by Clive Leach of Durham Norman Gascoigne of Warwickshire.