Sussex chief executive Zac Toumazi admits county cricket must modernise if it is to survive in the wake of another overhaul of the domestic season.

The ECB this week announced that only one team would be promoted from division two of the County Championship this season with the number of games reduced from 16 to 14 from next year.

The NatWest T20 Blast will also revert to be played in a block during the summer holidays having been switched to Friday nights a couple of years ago in a bid to cash in on its popularity while the Royal London One Day Cup will be played in April and May.

Toumazi understands the changes will not be welcomed by traditionalists keen to preserve the status of first class cricket but says that keeping the status quo was simply not an option due to a congested fixture list and the economic pressures being felt by a number of counties.

Sussex have been forced to make significant cutbacks after posting a loss of £141,000 last year and Toumazi says that capitalising on the popularity of Twenty20 cricket is vital to turning the county’s fortunes around.

Toumazi said: “I know the changes are going to divide opinion and fans of the longer format of the game are going to be disappointed in the reduction in the number of Championship games.

“The problem is we have the same discussions every year about what to do with the schedule and the truth is that whatever happens you are not going to be able to keep everybody happy. I think what has been announced is a reasonable compromise considering some of the other options thrown around.

“The key thing for us was having the Twenty20 competition played in the summer holidays so hopefully we can attract a new audience. We need kids coming into the ground so we can engage with a new generation of cricket fans.

“Having one less Championship match at Hove from 2017 is not ideal but we have to accept that Twenty20 and 50-over cricket is an exciting brand of cricket which fans want to watch.

“We can’t just bury our heads in the sand and carry on like everything is fine. We have to accept that in five or ten years’ time cricket will look a lot different to what it does today and try to adapt to that.

“This club has been a vibrant part of the community for 180 years and we want to make sure it remains that way for another 180 years.”

Toumazi insists the changes are not necessarily the first step towards introducing a city-based franchise Twenty20 competition when the current television deal runs out in 2019.

And he insists that having one fewer home Championship game does not sound the death knell for the Horsham festival for good after it was dropped for the coming season due to financial reasons.

“It would be incorrect to say that is it for Horsham,” added Toumazi. “We have been very clear all along about our reasons for not holding a festival at Horsham this year and the change to the schedule doesn’t affect that.

“We will continue to discuss the future of the Horsham festival but we may have to look at the way we go about it. It has been a four-day game with a one-day game bolted on so perhaps we would need to look at other alternatives.”