I had a thought which might be good all round ....
As the original plans were to have 5 x home counties( a and b ) at 4 players = 40 players.... now its 8 teams x 4 players = 32... Why not still have 4 teams but increase the players to 5 per team.... so making 40 players total again...
This give some extra players the chance to play, less rejected requests.
It also does not appear to mess up the pre planned games which are now 8 players per table just changing to 10 per table, same number of tables still.
Jack (and other captains not playing) probably would not feel so guilty by playing himself.
Total payout pot would go up a little and make it more worthwhile for long distance travellers who would also want to try cover costs.
There are probably a lot more reasons which would benefit everybody... By the way, I am not angling at getting myself a seat, I am not putting myself forward for this tournament.
Just my twopenneth..