Town face Penarth challenge
CRICKET
BRIDGEND Town will face Thomas, Carroll South Wales Premier League One newcomers Penarth in this season’s T20 competition, writes Tony Poole.
Miskin Manor is the venue on May 21 with the winners meeting either the Festival Two hosts or Newport Fugitives in the final.
The Festival winners will then move straight through to Finals Day at the Swalec Stadium in Cardiff on August 13.
But a major problem has arisen for league organisers owing to a later than normal date for Finals Day.
By then, Area finals of the ECB competition are already under way and because of this, last year’s winners, Newport, will once more represent the South Wales Premier League (SWPL).
It means that the 2017 champions – and all future winners – will have to wait a year to represent the league in this potted form of the game.
Last season an unpopular T20 extension led to problems, resulting in matches being delayed and a loss of interest.
Clubs from outside the SWPL were invited but the experiment wasn’t well accepted and it’s thought to be one of the reasons for this year only 16 of the 20 member clubs competing.
Tondu are among the four clubs to opt out along with Carmarthen Wanderers, St Fagans and Ynystawe.
The three other Festivals involve (winners moving forward to Finals Day): Festival One: Tata Steel (hosts), Cardiff, Newport, Panteg. Festival Three: Mumbles Ammanford, Neath. Festival Four: Ynysygerwn (hosts), Pontarddulais, Port Talbot Town, Swansea.
Meanwhile, in a separate move, the SWPL has announced that during July an experiment will be made with pink cricket balls.
This will involve all five rounds of fixtures during the month and feedback will be crucial to any move to implement a permanent change in colour.
Finally, Tondu is staging the SWPL pre-season distribution evening on April 24 where clubs receive their allocation of balls, scorebooks and handbooks. (hosts), Clydach,