Pink ball to swing it for league clubs

4:11pm Friday 14th November 2008

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The JCT600 Bradford League are hoping that clubs will be ‘in the pink’ next season.

The league aren’t advocating pastel shades in the pyjama game but they will be using pink cricket balls in their own Twenty20 competition.

Alan Birkinshaw, the league’s public relations and marketing manager, told their league meeting last night: “We have a potential sponsor in place but we need an indication from the clubs by December 1 as to whether they want to play in it.

“Participation is voluntary but we hope to hold regional groups and then stage the later rounds under the new permanent floodlights at Bradford & Bingley.

“We also have a sponsor for pink cricket balls and clubs should look upon the tournament as a way of making revenue.

“We have umpires and a framework of rules and intend to stage matches on Tuesday nights, although we can be flexible.”

A thornier issue is the constitution of the league now that Esholt have left.

League chief executive Bob Shackleton said: “We will have 13 teams in the First Division first teams and 13 teams in the First Division second teams next season and 11 clubs in each second division.

“We intend to balance things at 12-12 after that.” League chairman Graham Reid stressed the importance of clubs knowing what they were playing for before the season started.

However, Woodlands’ cricket secretary Brian Pearson was not happy that the top flight had an uneven number of clubs.

He said: “Weather could be a greater factor with an uneven number of clubs.”

Reid countered: “This (an uneven number of clubs) has happened before where a First Division club left the Bradford League before the end of a season.

“The board took a decision that the team that was next to bottom of the First Division would not be demoted.”

With only 13 clubs in Division One and 11 in Division Two, the Bradford League have made it clear that they would welcome quality applicants in future.