The Club Day on 1st October was well attended and many opinions were expressed as how cricket should be developed in Leinster. The challenge for Cricket Leinster and the committees was to balance the wide range of views expressed and draw conclusions for the coming season. The process was limited by time and some changes needed further consultation before a conclusion could be made.
Cricket Leinster have to balance the views of the players and the clubs especially where they differ - often players and officers from the same club have different views. Balancing the wishes of the recreational cricketers with those of the elite or aspiring elite players also is a challenge.
So, it was not simple but the overwhelming commitment was not to do nothing.
There was general agreement that the T20 Alan Murray Cup needed to be prioritized and moved to the weekend. Players were concerned with mid-week early evening starts and limited warm-up/preparation time. Players noted that they were better prepared for the other formats played at the weekends. This change of T20 to the weekend reflects the importance of T20 format not just to Irish cricket but also globally; Australian cricket is moving towards T20 being the basis of the development of the game with expansion to the longer formats (rather than starting with the longer formats as is done here).
The issues with the Leinster Senior Cup was more complex with players and officials differing in their opinions. We have to respect the players who tell us that the LSC has little relevance as a 60 over competition. But it is the competition with the proudest tradition; both clubs and their officers have identified this as a reason for doing nothing for the coming year. The longer day for players with lunch and tea breaks divided opinions also. Following consideration, it was decided that the Leinster Senior Cup would be retained for 2017 but with a 40 over format that aligns with all the other cups.
The main impact of these changes is on the fixture list and considerable work has been completed to ensure that the number of double weekends is kept to a minimum. This was one of the requests from the players and especially the recreational players in Div 1 and 2. One cannot add additional fixtures without some congestion – it is compounded by additional representative matches. Some of the double weekends will be with only T20 on one of the days. The clubs may have additional weekends but these will be for the clubs who do well in the cups but this is common in many sports. We hope that the clubs will be committed to both the Alan Murray Cup and the Leinster Senior Cup in 2017 but it is acknowledged that it is not compulsory to participate in any competition. For this reason, the planned list of fixtures has been circulated by the Secretary of the OCC to each club asking for confirmation whether the club wishes to enter the Leinster Senior Cup.
The overall process did highlight the need for Clubs to contribute in a meaningful way when asked to do so; those on Cricket Leinster committees cannot guess what are the views of the players or clubs especially where only a small number have contributed.
Many thanks to the individuals and clubs who have contributed to the process and the changes to the Alan Murray Cup and the Leinster Senior Cup for 2017. But for those who feel the changes have not gone far enough, other modifications are expected for 2018 after more consultations with the players and clubs.