Hampshire chairman Rod Bransgrove wants the England and Wales Cricket Board to ask supporters what they want from a competition to rival the Indian Premier League.
The ECB wants to form its response to the IPL by 2010 but Bransgrove believes that thorough market research has to be carried out to create the best possible English Premier League.
Professional Cricketers Association chief executive Sean Morris has created a storm by suggesting that counties will have to merge to form the world-class Twenty20 competition the ECB desires.
But Bransgrove said: "We have to remember that Twenty20 cricket was a product of definitive market research.
"We asked people what they wanted before Twenty20 was created and we should follow that path now.
"Merging counties is a possibility and I'm open minded, but it's a consumer-driven business so we have to ask the supporters what they want.
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"To use a football analogy, what would happen if Tottenham and Arsenal were to merge?
"On the surface we might think it would be great to watch Cesc Fabregas and Dimitar Berbatov play together but the fans might have something to say about the teams merging!
"If we merged with Sussex I think the two clubs would lose some of their sovereignty and that would probably be a problem for a lot of our supporters, even if it would be great for the neutral to see Chris Tremlett and Murray Goodwin on the same team.
"It's not the only way of setting up a Twenty20 league in this country.
"Another option would be to follow the football model with a Premier League that has promotion and relegation.
"We could have two leagues of nine as we do with the Championship and Pro40, but the games would have to be played at grounds that hold 15,000 spectators and that could be problematic for some counties.
"All of the options have to be examined and researched but I am pleased that people are starting to think outside the box.
"My personal preference is not to merge so we retain Hampshire's sovereignty and it would be a shame not to have the rivalry with Sussex in a Twenty20 Premier League.
"But if the consumers see different, so be it."
Meanwhile, Bransgrove has admitted that Dimitri Mascarenhas may return to the Indian Premier League for a second spell with the Rajasthan Royals at the end of May.
Mascarenhas leaves for Jaipur tomorrow to play in five group games for his IPL franchise, starting against the Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday.
He will miss the Royals' last five group games but may return if the team captained by former Hampshire skipper Shane Warne qualify for the semi-finals.
The Royals began the inaugural IPL as outsiders but are looking for a third successive win in Bangalore today after bouncing back from a heavy defeat in their first game with two victories that Warne inspired with bat and ball.
Bransgrove has a good relationship with Manoj Badale, the chairman of Emerging Media, the company that owns the Royals, after agreeing to let Mascarenhas spend a fortnight of Hampshire's season as the IPL's first England player.
He said: "We'll wait and see what the Royals do in the IPL and where we're at before that's discussed.
"Things have worked out very well between us so far, they've been decent people to deal with."
Mascarenhas is already set to miss Hampshire's next Championship match at Somerset as well as three Friends Provident Trophy games.
If the Royals reach the IPL semi-finals, he may also miss the Championship match against Kent at the Rose Bowl.
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