A decision to return coverage of Ashes series cricket to terrestrial television as one of British sport’s “crown jewels” would be disastrous for grassroots clubs in Shropshire and Mid Wales, a leading official has claimed.

Shropshire Cricket Board chairman Bob Williams made the claim in a letter to Ben Bradshaw, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, urging him to drop the plans.

The minister has provisionally accepted the recommendations of an inquiry on TV sport, which has called for the home Ashes series with Australia to be added to the list of protected events.

A final decision is expected before the general election which must happen before June.

But Mr Williams said that clubs were thriving because of the extra cash flowing in to the game from lucrative TV deals, claiming £200,000 in funding was handed out to teams from Shropshire Cricket Board last year alone.

In the letter, Mr Williams says: “The English Cricket Board’s (ECB) ability to make such significant investments in the grassroots and community cricket has been in large part due to the fact that ECB has been able to negotiate a fair market price for cricket with broadcasters who have demonstrated a desire and commitment to our sport.

“The potential damage of listing the Ashes is incredibly serious for the health of our sport.

“Initial indications provided to ECB by external rights consultants have suggested a loss of income of at least £100 million over a four-year period.

“With losses of this magnitude the impact will be felt at all levels of the game and it would be disastrous if a populist move, unsupported by financial impact studies or broadcasters, was to undermine the entire structure of the game.

“Cricket in Shropshire, with its clubs often the centre of village or community life, had benefited hugely from this ECB investment.

“There is no doubt that if this decision goes against us that we will face inevitable cuts in the cricket infrastructure.”

Other sporting events recommended for terrestrial television include tournament qualifying matches for the England football team, golf’s Open Championship, Wimbledon and rugby union’s World Cup.