MARTYN Moxon, Yorkshire's well-respected director of coaching, has been given the task by the England and Wales Cricket Board of helping to investigate the viability of setting up England contracts for our international players.

Moxon has been appointed to a working party which will be led by Sussex's chairman-elect Don Trangmar and includes England and Middlesex seamer Angus Fraser and MP Kate Hoey.

The working party will meet occasionally during the summer with the aim of reporting their findings to the ECB management committee in October.

Any recommendations approved by the ECB will then go before the First Class Forum in December and could come into force by next season.

"I got a call about a fortnight ago from international team director Simon Pack inviting me to join the party and I was happy to accept," said Moxon.

"Our main job will be to listen carefully to the pros and cons of England contracts and make a decision once we have a much fuller understanding of the issues involved.

"All sorts of questions need answering, such as when should England contracts be given out and to how many players, and what happens to contracted players who may not then be chosen for England?"

Moxon and his colleagues on the working party will also study how counties should be compensated if their players are put on England contracts.

"We will talk closely with the counties and I do not envisage too many problems because they are already co-operating far more closely with England than ever used to be the case," said Moxon.

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