GLOUCESTERSHIRE head coach Richard Dawson hopes Bristol will  be included as one of the eight cities involved in a new Twenty20 tournament if it becomes reality in three years time.

England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves took the much-anticipated step on Tuesday to trigger a postal ballot of all 18 first-class counties, the Minor Counties Cricket Association, MCC and 21 recreational boards to officially endorse the constitutional change required for the eight-team competition to begin in 2020.

For those plans to continue, as seems almost inevitable, a minimum 31 of the 41 organisations consulted must respond positively over the next 28 days to the suggested amendment in the ECB's Articles of Association which will allow - on a one-off basis - the inauguration of a competition involving only eight city-based teams, rather than all 18 counties.

After the executive board agreed to dispatch the literature during a Lord's meeting, Graves welcomed the unanimous decision.

"The ECB board today (Tuesday) gave their unanimous support to trigger a formal process to change the game's Articles of Association and allow a new T20 competition," he said.

However, 18 into eight means some major cities will miss out. London would be a certainty to get one, with Manchester and Birmingham other favourites. Leeds and Nottingham may fit the bill which would leave the likes of Leicester, Cardiff, Worcester, Southampton, Durham, Bristol and non-city based counties like Essex, Kent and Sussex to battle for the others.

Bristol could be the centre for both a Gloucestershire and Somerset team, and Dawson hopes the West Country city would get the nod for a team.

Dawson said: “I suppose the initial thing is that people want cricket to change, move forward and get a new group of people interested.

“So, from that point of view, it is a positive if it creates interest in English cricket and it is a tournament similar to what is being played around the world (India Premier League and Australia’s Big Bash).

“In an ideal world, talking from a Gloucestershire point of view, you would want it in Bristol but some people will be disappointed and some areas won’t get one because there are only eight teams.

“But it is a long way away and we have a season to get on with at the moment.”