A revised points system and an increase in the number of overseas players permitted to be registered at any one time, due to the overlapping of the Championship and the T20 Blast, have also been introduced
Two rounds of this summer's County Championship will be played with a Kookaburra ball, the ECB have announced.
Rounds nine and 10 (June 25-28 and July 10-13) will see the Dukes ball ditched while the Ashes is taking place between England and Australia.
A revised points system will also be in place. While victories will continue to be rewarded with 16 points, just five (down from eight) will be on offer for draws.
The threshold from which batting bonus points will be available has been raised to 250 runs. As per the previous regulations, an additional point will be awarded for every 50 runs scored on top, with a maximum of five available for reaching 450.
Both changes follow recommendations contained within Andrew Strauss' high-performance review.
Scrutiny of county pitches will ratchet up this summer (Ryan Hiscott/Getty Images)
A trial period for the Kookaburra ball aims to gather data on how it impacts the use of spinners, lower-pace seamers, and the balance between bat and ball.
All 18 counties being in action and the rounds being back-to-back will hopefully provide a proper gauge as to its benefits and drawbacks.
Many leading international teams use the ball, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.
Taking place while England's Test players are preoccupied with regaining the Ashes means the likes of James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Jofra Archer will not be part of the trial.
"We were conscious of the timing but these discussions were post-fixture publication so we were primarily looking at making sure we could be level in terms of using the Kookaburra ball and full rounds," said ECB Head of Cricket Operations Alan Fordham.
It is hoped changes to the point system will promote attacking batting (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
"First and last round - neither of those were going to work sensibly I don't think. The other one was at a point where we were building into the Test match summer and it was felt at that point we should be using Dukes balls because those are the ones that we're going to be using during that Test series.
"There certainly wasn't any link drawn between the two at all. It was about getting this trial done. These are the four rounds that are available, these are the two consecutive rounds. It was about what was going to work best for us, no interaction with that Ashes series."
Meanwhile, it is hoped there will be several knock-on effects from the changes to the points system, with improving the standard of pitches across the country the priority.
Surfaces which allow every discipline of the game to flourish and push matches deep into the fourth day are among the aims. Though few metrics have been offered regarding how success will be gauged, the ECB are using the average number of overs required to deliver a result in 2022 - 305 - as a starting point.
As yet, no bonus point system (as proposed by the HPR) is being introduced but the ECB are contemplating how to tackle pitches which do not meet the standard required.
The ECB are hoping for more late four-day finishes in the Championship (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Furthermore, it is anticipated that fewer points being on offer for stalemates will incentivise winning cricket - building on Ben Stokes' declaration that England "have got no interest in playing for draws" - while changes to the batting points system should enhance the focus on first innings runs.
An alteration introduced for 2023 which was not drawn from the Strauss report is the increase of the number of overseas players that each county can register at any one time.
Several directors of cricket requested an alteration to the rules - only two are allowed in a Championship or Blast XI, as before - as the competitions continue to dovetail. They will now be permitted to have four on their books at any one time.
Though the more controversial elements of the high-performance review, triggered after the 2021/22 Ashes, around structure and schedule remain in the blocks, the latest tinkering with the domestic competitions comes at a time when England have won nine of their last 10 Tests and hold both men's white-ball World Cups.
The Stokes-Brendon McCullum axis has England playing an exciting brand of cricket and it is anticipated that philosophy will trickle down to the county game this summer. But the ECB are unwilling to rest on its laurels.
Stokes and McCullum have outlined their philosophy to counties ahead of the new season (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
"What they are wanting to create is sustained success for generations and not just a bit of success that relies on good chemistry between a captain and coach that we're all seeing happening now," Fordham added.
"We don't have to go too far back to find a system that we're playing in is generating some pretty poor results as well.
"What we're looking for is a system that can generate sustained success that doesn't just rely on a couple of highly impressive individuals at any one time. We need a better system to provide a better foundation that anyone can deliver against."
Managing director of county cricket Neil Snowball added: "We do beat ourselves up about the standard of our domestic competitions but overall they are very good. We can always make them better.
"Our domestic game is probably overly blamed when things go wrong and maybe overly credited when things go right so if we can increase the standard I think that is the right thing to do."
Welcome to www.thecricketer.com - the online home of the world’s oldest cricket magazine. Breaking news, interviews, opinion and cricket goodness from every corner of our beautiful sport, from village green to national arena.