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Somerset chief executive Richard Gould has accused the Test match grounds of “arrogance” over their involvement in talks about a new Twenty20 competition that could exclude many of the smaller counties.

Gould, a close ally of England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke, said: "Their behaviour brings into question their host agreements with the ECB and I wonder whether or not they have breached these agreements and they should probably forgo their Test match hosting relationship."

Three representatives of the Test match grounds – Yorkshire's chief executive Stewart Regan, Warwickshire's chief executive Colin Povey and Lancashire committee member David Hodgkiss – held exploratory talks with Lalit Modi, the Indian Premier League commissioner, in Delhi in March about a new 10-franchise competition.

The Guardian reports that Gould claimed Regan outlined a plan in which Somerset and Gloucestershire would ally themselves with Cardiff and play all their matches at the Swalec Stadium in Cardiff.

"We thought this was being wholly arrogant and I put to him that maybe Yorkshire should link up with Lancashire," Gould said. "His reaction was that there were far too many people to warrant anything less than two teams. I indicated to him that Somerset stretches from Bath right the way down to Lands End which is a huge area and certainly one of the biggest county catchments on the circuit.

"We think he is being arrogant and he doesn't pay due respect to county cricket throughout the country. We are just getting fed up with the TMGs chasing cash to pay off their own debts that they have entered into. We feel that the Test match hosting grounds are trying to sell us down the Swanee."