By Oliver Brett

Gough has played county cricket for 16 years

Essex and England fast bowler Darren Gough has called for a salary cap to limit the earnings of overseas players signed by county sides.

Gough told BBC Sport: "They always say they are coming over to improve their cricket, but then word gets around that they are taking a lot of money.

"They should be here for the good of the game and I think there should be set salaries for overseas players."

Gough feels the county game would still attract star names with a cap in place.

"If that was to happen, would they sit at home and get no money or come over to England? They'd come over here, of course," he said.

Worcestershire chief executive Mark Newton told BBC Sport he was opposed to the idea.

"I'm personally against salary caps because they create an artificial environment and are not what any athlete wants to work under," he said.

"However I do know that I am in the minority.

"But I am leaning more and more towards just one overseas player rather than two and that is a view shared by the club."

Current rules restrict clubs to a quota of two "overseas" players each but European Union law means players from southern Africa and the Caribbean can sidestep the classification.

More: Essex silent on Lee

Gough's club Essex were linked last October to a possible �250,000 approach for Australian superstar Brett Lee.

But, even though the success of the Twenty20 Cup has given a much-needed boost to county coffers, a six-figure deal for any player - from overseas or otherwise - is unusual.

Clubs at non-Test venues rarely report profits in excess of five figures, drawing on a grant of over �2 million from the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Lancashire chief executive Jim Cumbes said he was in favour of a cap on a team's overall wage bill, rather than imposing a limit on any individual player's salary.

To keep attracting quality overseas players it seems necessary to give them appropriate wages From B Have your say on TMS

"Say, for argument's sake, you had a salary cap of �1 million. You could then decide whether to spread that over 22 players or 16 or whatever," he said.

"It's something that we as a Test match ground would support because there are always accusations that we get a lot more money than other counties."

Teams in rugby union's Guinness Premiership can spend a maximum of �2.25 million per year on salaries.

Rugby league is also subject to a salary cap structure which includes a maximum of 20 players earning �20,000 or more and a cap on overall wages expenditure of �1.8 million.