Sean Morris, the chief executive of the Professional Cricketers' Association, has hinted that it may be necessary to look beyond the current 18 county system to maximise the prospects of Twenty20 cricket in England.

With a blaze of public interest and a hitherto unprecedented amount of money flooding the new Indian Premier League, which has eight franchises, the talk of a domestic equivalent in England has become a hot topic in recent days.

American billionaire Sir Allen Stanford yesterday spoke of his belief that cricket could become the world's dominant team sport, while also offering to invest heavily in an ECB-sponsored initiative to promote the format.

Stanford has already had talks with the ECB about a series of multi-million pound, winner-takes-all 'challenge matches' as well as the potential for a rival English Premier League competition.

Just one England player is playing in the inaugural edition of the IPL, with Hampshire captain Dimitri Mascarenhas joining Shane Warne's Rajasthan Royals for a two-week spell.

But with the huge sums on offer for relatively small time commitments, fears have escalated that players may compromise their international places - or at least their county positions - in pursuit of the big money.

Hampshire's Kevin Pietersen and Ryan Sidebottom, respectively England's best batsman and form bowler, have both publicly stated their interest in appearing alongside the world's best in the IPL and Morris believes it is time to give serious thought to setting up an equally attractive event domestically.

And he believes radical proposals like the merging of county teams into regional sides should not be considered taboo.

"This is the biggest opportunity we will ever get to restructure," the former Hampshire batsman admitted.

"I am very open-minded about the future, but I don't automatically envisage the EPL being played by the 18 first-class counties.

"When you look at the broadcasting deal that will drive it and for sponsorship partners and for fans, does playing 18 teams really stack up?

"We have met the chief executives (of the counties) and the status quo is being challenged.

"They are being forced to examine their business models. They are being challenged, which is a good thing, but they might come up with 18 different answers."

Stanford wants to see his plans for an EPL implemented by 2010 at the latest - with a preference for the already-saturated fixture schedule of 2009 - and Morris agrees that time is of the essence.

"This is a great opportunity for English cricket, an unbelievable chance for England to assert itself. India, a big competitor has got to the market first. It is important that we act quickly.

"Considering that we invented Twenty20, they should not have got their first. It is important that we act quickly."