The dapper figure of Lord MacLaurin will introduce the proceedings on the podium, and then attention will turn to Tim Lamb, the ECB's chief executive, for his presentation of a glossy report called Raising the Standard. Lamb's discourse is expected to take about an hour.

The contents of that eagerly awaited report have been kept secret, even from the county clubs, and the booklet was returned from the printers to the ECB offices only yesterday afternoon.

The MacLaurin-Lamb report is expected to contain proposals for a County Championship split into three groups of six, with play-offs in the second half of the season, and a 25-match, 50-over league in place of the Benson and Hedges Cup and AXA Life League.

Radical change to county second XI cricket is also likely, along with proposals to make club cricket more competitive.

After Lord MacLaurin's exhaustive trawl of opinions, including his tour of the counties last winter, his reputation in the game will be coloured by the reception of this report.

Ian MacLaurin was an outstanding club batsman himself at Welwyn Garden City before he switched from shots to shops, beginning his climb to the chairmanship of Tesco.

In September, after six weeks of debate, the ECB members will have to make firm decisions on the game's future, though they are not likely to go against today's plans when they are put to a formal vote.