Devon Cricket Board - League finally resolve promotion and relegation issues

League finally resolve promotion and relegation issues

DEVON League clubs resolved outstanding promotion and relegation issues on Monday night at an extraordinary meeting in Exeter, writes Conrad Sutcliffe

Hanging over from the end of last season were questions over points awarded under the controversial declaration rule, which gave teams two extra points if they declared early and went on to win the game.

The controversy related to where the cut-off point was for declarations in 45-over matches played in the vast majority of the competition from the B Division 1^st XI down.

League rules said before 90 per cent of the overs had been bowled – fine in a 50-over game where the answer was 45, but open to misinterpretation in a 45-over game where the ‘answer’ was 40 overs and three balls.

Where the confusion crept in related to whether three balls constituted a completed over , which made it more than 90 per cent!

The trouble started within hours of the end of the season when Clyst St George were told their declaration against Plymouth CS&R came too late in the game to qualify for the two-point bonus.

Those two points claimed were enough to keep Clyst in the C Division and condemn Plymouth CS&R to the drop.

Then the appealing started – and along the way disputes involving Cullompton and Exeter CS in the F Division and Seaton 2^nd XI and Axminster 2^nd XI in the D Division East also came to light.

League bosses, an appeal panel and the DCB were unable to resolve the issue, so it was thrown back to the clubs, who met at the Exeter Court Hotel.

Having hears both sides of the argument from the clubs involved – and learned there had been requests for clarity over the rule from the early weeks of the season – representative were given two choices.

They had to interpret what the intention of the rule defining what 90 per cent actually meant and were given two alternatives.

By a modest majority – 20-16 with around 20 abstentions - the vote was that 40 overs and three balls was a completed over and therefore more than 90 per cent.

The decision meant Clyst St George went down and Plymouth CS&R stayed up, Cullompton were promoted instead of Exeter CS and Axminster took the promotion place off Seaton.

Cullompton spokesman Richard Stevenson later spoke of his relief that the issue had finally been settled.

“Now we can actually start planning for promotion,” said Stevenson.

Devon League bosses now have to tidy up the mess left behind – and chairman Stuart Munday said the job was already in hand.

Two proposals are on the table for the next league annual meeting, one of them to scrap the declaration rule completely.

“One proposal is to do away with the two points altogether and go back to 10 points for a win and a maximum of 10 bonus points for batting and bowling,” said Munday.

“The other is to rewrite the declaration rules more clearly and with two new elements in them.

“The side declaring will have to bowl the opposition to get the extra two points – and the side batting second will get them if they achieve 90 per cent of the total of the side batting first.

“It will be up to the clubs to decide at the annual meeting. What we can be certain of is we don’t want anything like this happening again.”

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