January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
Cricket season to start
In a sign of the changing times that are sweeping the sport globally, Bermuda has embraced the popular no-holds barred format as the cricket board attempts to inject some excitement into the domestic season.
The longer format will not disappear completely, with a two-division Open Cricket league established, following the basic format of the County Cup competitions.
The 50-over league remains unchanged and will get a low-key kick-off this weekend with two First Division matches involving Bermuda's Under-18 squad. Each team will play each other twice in the 14-game domestic league.
The BELCO Cup will go ahead as normal but there will be no limited overs knockout competitions.
Allen Richardson, who headed up a task force with the job of consulting the public and reorganizing the structure of the domestic leagues said the new 20-20 competition was an important part of the process.
"We want to bring the fans out and make it a family atmosphere and we also need to start putting together a squad that will go to Ireland for the 20-20 World Cup qualifier in August.
"This competition will gauge who will get into that squad."
He said the BCB was working on bringing in a big screen to show action replays and would be holding the semi-finals and final under floodlights at the national centre.
He said the board had wanted to maintain a two-day competition but the enthusiasm for the longer format was just not there.
"It's not the ideal situation when you have four-day international matches to prepare for. We do see a need for the longer version of the game but we didn't get any support for the two-day league. Players weren't turning up. It was a real shambles to be honest."
He said he hoped the Open Format, a single innings competition to a maximum 120 overs, would at least give players a taste of the longer game.
[[In-content Ad]]April 26 - 20-20 Group Stages begin with games at NSC, SCC, Rangers and St David's
May 10 - 20-20 Finals Day at the NSC
May 11 - Opening day of 50-over league
May 17 - Social Club begin Central Counties defence
June 7,8 - BELCO Cup
June 21 - Open Cricket league kicks off
July 5 - Southampton Rangers begin Western County defence
July 19 - St David's begin Eastern County Defence
July 31, August 1 - Cup Match
Comments:
You must login to comment.