Somerset chairman Andy Nash believes a salary cap is inevitable in county cricket to avoid the wage excesses of Premier League football.

Nash cited the interest shown by other counties in Gloucestershire CCC all-rounder Alex Gidman last summer as an example of what the sport should try to avoid.

He said: "We welcome the salary cap. Last year Surrey made an offer of £150,000 to Alex Gidman which caused many problems at Gloucestershire. We don't want cricket to go the same way as Premier League football. It will be introduced around our current level of £1.8 million. It will be a guideline for the first year and if you are caught cheating after that you will be expelled from the first-class game."

Gidman, who was also courted by Warwickshire, was recently appointed captain of Gloucestershire, replacing Jon Lewis.

Surrey's typical annual income is around £13m, while fellow international match-hosting county Lancashire is at £12m. By comparison, Somerset CCC's normal income is £4m, hence their interest in the cap.

Somerset's unprecedented profit of £4.4m for the last financial year came of the back of land deals and was seen as a one-off.