Yorkshire's agreement with the England and Wales Cricket Board for staging Test matches at Headingley will have to be renegotiated now that the county club's hopes of buying the ground have been dashed.

A 15-year agreement had been signed recently but was dependant on Yorkshire owning the ground and this will now lapse at the end of the year and a new one will have to be agreed.

Yorkshire chairman, Robin Smith, told a members' clinic at Headingley yesterday that there was no danger of not getting another agreement and that the future of Test cricket on the ground was not at risk.

They had been given a 15-year agreement because it provided them with the base to borrow money for the ground, but now that the circumstances had changed they would negotiate a shorter agreement, probably for five years. Smith said that the breakdown of talks with their landlords, Leeds Cricket, Football and Athletic Company, meant that the future development of the winter shed area of the ground and the grandstand would inevitably have to be put back, but he believed they could still do it one day, provided Leeds CFAC boss, Paul Caddick, agreed.

"Everybody is still with us and our two biggest funders, Leeds City Council and Sport England, are still here so we should never say never," said Smith.

"The physical reality of the situation is that Yorkshire are still at Headingley. We are in business and will continue to stay in business."

In reply to a question, Smith said he believed that Yorkshire's future as a members' club was probably more secure now than it would have been if they had bought the ground and it had been financed from outside.

"The Management Board have inherited the club and our job is to preserve it, develop it and hand it on."

Smith said that Yorkshire would be advertising in a national newspaper on Sunday for a new chief executive and they were looking for someone with financial and commercial expertise and experience.

He would be given measurable targets for the growth of the business and would be responsible for business plans for sponsorship, membership and catering targets.

Although Leeds CFAC still held the catering rights at Headingley, Yorkshire now had the catering rights for the indoor school, Scarborough Cricket Club and at the Leeds University playing fields at Weetwood where functions would be held in the future.

Light rain continued well into the afternoon at Headingley yesterday and prevented any play on the first day of Yorkshire's first home Championship match against Somerset.

* Hampshire maintained their flying start to the new Frizzell County Championship season with an emphatic bowling performance yesterday.

First Division Hampshire ran through the Sussex batting order at Hove, bowling the hosts out for 252 despite 104 from Michael Yardy and 87 from Murray Goodwin.

Billy Taylor was the star of last week's win over Gloucestershire but this time it was fellow seamer Chris Tremlett's turn to shine as he picked up a career-best six for 44.

His victims included centurion Yardy, who defied the visitors for 222 balls and hit 14 fours in his third hundred in as many matches. His third wicket partnership with Goodwin - one of two victims for Shane Warne - was worth 172.

Hampshire were 67 for one in reply at the close with Kevin Pietersen still to waiting to begin his first championship innings for his new county.

David Hussey hit an unbeaten century as Nottinghamshire piled up 399 for six against Middlesex at Lord's.

New skipper Stephen Fleming made a disappointing Notts debut with a fourth-ball duck against his former county, becoming one of five successes for new signing Alan Richardson, but runs were not in short supply.

Hussey was 117 not out at stumps.