With the one-day season starting at six venues tomorrow, incoming batsmen will be given three minutes to reach the crease - instead of two minutes to reach the boundary's edge, as laid down by the laws still applying in first-class games.

The fielding side will have the option of appealing for timed out, knowing that the seconds have been officially recorded by the umpires. They could even question the batsmen for mitigating circumstances.

County batsmen have been increasingly less inclined to cross on the field, the incoming player sometimes waiting several seconds after his dismissed colleague enters the pavilion area.

Though this can be annoying enough for spectators, it has serious implications for the fielding side, who could have their own allocation of overs reduced for a slow over-rate which was not of their making.

John Carr, an ECB official, said yesterday: ``Gamesmanship seems to have been creeping in, with batsmen taking their time in order to get overs docked off the opposition. We have had reports on this and we were a bit concerned.''

He added: ``We have contacted every county, stressing why this new rule has come into play, and we're hoping common sense will prevail.''

At Lord's, Middlesex are to set aside a downstairs room for their waiting batsman this season, because flights of steps and sheer distance would make them vulnerable to the three-minute rule.

Timed out, as a dismissal, used to happen occasionally in first-class cricket, usually when resuming batsmen were too late reaching the ground, but it is unknown in professional limited-overs games.

Incoming county batsmen seem to be delaying their entrance as a matter of course in many cases, perhaps following the example of Test cricket, where delayed entries have become endemic.

John Major is to become the president of Surrey County Cricket Club next year.

The former Prime Minister - who will be deputy president this year to the former England manager, Micky Stewart - said: ``I have been an avid follower of Surrey cricket for 45 years and am delighted to have the opportunity to put something back into the county that has given me such pleasure for so long.''