Cricket to return after NSSCL announce date to start season
THE North Staffs and South Cheshire League will start on Saturday, July 18.
League officials issued a statement at the weekend confirming the date after recreational cricket was given the green light to go ahead.
It appeared as though club cricketers faced a longer wait to play after Prime Minster Boris Johnson expressed concerns about teas and changing rooms in a radio interview with LBC on Friday morning.
However, hours later, the Government announced that club cricket could start from July 11.
That U-turn gave leagues little time to hit that date, although competitions across the country had already been eyeing up July 18 as a potential start.
Several clubs have already announced friendlies for next Saturday.
The NSSCL statement read: “We are really pleased and excited to announce that the North Staffordshire and South Cheshire League will recommence on Saturday 18th July 2020.
“The format will adhere to any forthcoming ECB guidelines due to be published early this week.
“What we can say is that we will be setting up an exciting inclusive competition for all registered teams to participate in that makes the most of the time we practically have to play cricket.
“The deadline for clubs to confirm teams is this Wednesday 8th July. Please ensure your club lets us know on or before that date!
“Watch this space for more details over the coming days.”
It has already been proposed by the NSSCL that each of the nine divisions will be split in to two to create mini A and B sections - with six clubs in each.
Plans are to play five Twenty20 games and five longer format matches, providing 10 matches for clubs. The winners of each section in their respective division could then play a final to decide the champions.
The matches are expected to be 11-a-side, although there will be social distancing guidelines to adhere to.
The league had previously revealed that there would be no promotion or relegation this summer after the start of the season was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Clubs have been asked for their feedback, and it is understood a meeting is taking place in the early part of the week to rubber-stamp the format.
If the proposals are finalised, that would mean extending the season beyond the scheduled finish date of September 12.
NSSCL officials are keen, though, to ensure that there is plenty of opportunity for game time across other competitions including junior cricket and Sunday leagues.
England are due to start their international summer this coming week at the Ageas Bowl with the first of three Tests against the West Indies.
And domestic cricket is set to begin on August 1.
Staffordshire cricket development director Jason Britton was delighted to see the club game given the go ahead.
He said: “The surprise announcement was great news obviously. The surprise was not so much the actual decision, more the timing given that earlier the same day the Prime Minister was still listing the reasons not to play.
“Contrary to the beliefs of a number of commentators across social media, a lot of people have been working incredibly hard – both nationally and locally – to get us to this point.
“Playing formats as well as the match day conditions around sanitisation and distancing have been worked up and the details will be made available to us early this week. “The conditions might not be to everyone’s liking but they are necessary to ensure that we create the safest gameplay opportunities for those who want to do so.
We’ve worked on a daily basis with our ECB and neighbouring county board colleagues and liaised with the network of junior and senior leagues in the county to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to play should they wish to. The majority of Ecb-based club and county competitions have already been cancelled but, as a board, we are looking to provide some representative county fixtures if at all possible within our region.
“We all know how frustrating and difficult things have been, but we must remember the context and the circumstances around us and the numbers of people who have lost more than a few cricket matches in the recent months. “We’d like to record a big thank you to the cricket family across the county for its support and patience and we look forward to getting this opportunity right and playing some cricket.”