GILES White has confirmed Hampshire are not affected by the reduction of county cricket’s salary cap.

Counties are now capped at £1.97m, down from £2.19m, but White said: “Our budget’s significantly under that and we’re quite comfortable with the squad we have got.”

The county cricket salary cap showcases the huge gap that exists between the counties and their Premier League football club counterparts.

Manchester United’s total wage bill in 2013/14 was over £210m, while Manchester City’s was around £205m and Chelsea’s £190m.

Hampshire, meanwhile, may add a new overseas player to their T20 squad if Jackson Bird is called up by Australia for the Ashes series.

But Aussie seamer Nathan Rimmington will not be making himself available for county cricket as a non-overseas player through his British passport, which he was considering when he played a game for Hampshire last year.

White added: “The landscape has changed for Nathan.

“He was out of favour with his state last year but he’s had a much better season in Australia for Western Australia and the Melbourne Renegades.

“Potentially he could come here as an overseas player but it won’t be as a non-overseas.

“His future is now very much in his home country.”