The top-line of Andrew Strauss’s long-awaited high-performance review on the future of county cricket is no change – for the immediate future. But the underlying message is clear: change is on the way.

Counties will continue to play 14 Championship games in 2023, after a submission from the First-Class County Chairs Representative Board to delay change till 2024. But a number of proposals were put forward in an analysis document which, if implemented, will considerably alter the current hotch-potch of a summer season.

The proposals include “a smaller LV= Insurance County Championship top division to ensure higher standards and more intense best v best red-ball cricket” – a suggestion which will strike fear into the hearts of many county members, who are wedded to keeping 14 games a season.

The 50-over cup, currently played almost as a second XI competition during the Hundred window, is primed for a revamp and a move to the beginning of the season. Playing red-ball county cricket during the Hundred window is also suggested, alongside rewarding counties with bonus points for producing good pitches.

Other suggestions include revamping the Lions programme to ensure more overseas cricket for young players, plus the rebirth of the short-lived North v South games, with preseason matches in the UAE.

In what could be good news for the purses of smaller counties, Strauss also wrote that the review looked at ways we “can better reward all 18 First-Class Counties for talent development, performances and other key criteria which will allow them to pursue their purpose and relevance within the game”.

The review now enters the consultation stage, with initial findings and ideas put to the first-class counties, the PCA and directors of cricket as well as the Cricket Supporters Association. County chairs will vote on proposals in a meeting on 20 September.