The England and Wales Cricket Board have set up an internal working party to oversee all aspects of preparation and strategy for the new Twenty20 EPL, which begins in 2010.

Players’ bosses are concerned that the leading stars, who have experience of leading 20-over events, and are the marketable tools in the lucrative project, will not be consulted in the initial shaping of the English model.

“The EPL does represent a benefit and once-in-a-generation opportunity for English cricket,” said PCA chief executive Sean Morris. “The successful implementation is pretty key to the structure of our game but not just for 2010 itself, for the long-term.

“To broaden the fan base and bring new people into cricket.”

That is what happened in the aftermath of the 2005 Ashes success and this country now has the chance to capture fresh interest with an alternative to the cash-rich Indian Premier League.

Essex chairman Nigel Hillyard is heading the ECB working party on the 20-over project and while the PCA are not part of the process, the body is doing some research of its own, by canvassing its members.

The results and subsequent PCA proposals will be offered to the ECB at a later date.

“We will be consulted at some stage but because we feel it is such an important moment in cricket we would not be doing our jobs if we did not conduct a full review of the opportunity,” said Morris.

England stars like Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff have taken in world cricket events while half-a-dozen internationals of recent years – including Dimitri Mascarenhas and Chris Read – have experience of the IPL and its rival Indian Cricket League.

“We must use these guys’ experience and we feel it could be a little bit more inclusive,” added Morris.

“We just want the best; a better environment for us all to work in.

“Anything we can do to contribute to that, we will do it. We don’t want to say in the future ‘we wish we had been more involved’.”

Although Morris sits on the ECB executive committee and former PCA president Mike Gatting is in the working party group, it is felt contemporary playing voices are required.

England’s players, meanwhile, are yet to sign their 2008-09 central contracts, which run from September 30.

The ECB and PCA are still negotiating how big the window of opportunity will be for participation in the second season of the IPL, not helped by scheduling for the start of next summer still uncertain.

All-rounder Flintoff – one of the most-coveted men on IPL franchise wishlists – yesterday urged the English cricket hierarchy to allow top players to sharpen their skills in the high-profile 20-over league.