Lancs dismay at old county league system
Lancashire Evening Telegraph
16 September 1997
LANCASHIRE will be playing in the same old county championship
next season after their hopes of two divisions were shattered at
Lord's yesterday. Along with the other counties with Test Match
grounds, Lancashire were firmly behind Lord MacLaurin's revised
plan to introduce two divisions with promotion and relegation to
pep up the county game and improve the England team. But the
proposals were defeated by the more conservative counties, with
only seven votes in favour and 12 against. Instead, there will
be a limp effort to provide more competition with the top eight
in next season's championship qualifying for a limited overs
``Super Cup'' the following year - the equivalent of the Benson &
Hedges Cup quarter-finals. From 1999, the existing B&H will be
combined with the Sunday League in a new 50 over competition
split into two divisions - a powerful incentive to finish in the
top half of next year's Sunday League. The counties have voted
for Lord MacLaurin's proposals for the lower levels of the game,
with the second team championship to be reduced to 12 matches
next season and eventually combined with the Minor Counties
competition. And they also backed the controversial plans for
Premier Leagues.
Those leagues will be made more attractive by a number of
features and grants, including a one-day competition with a
final at Lord's, and possibly the entry of an ECB XI in the
Commonwealth Games in Malaysia. Meanwhile Graham Lloyd dropped
down to the second team to boost Lancashire's championship bid
at Old Trafford yesterday. Lloyd has been excused from the last
first team game of the season starting at Bristol on Thursday
because his sister is getting married at the weekend. He is
likely to be replaced by Mark Harvey.
And yesterday he blasted 228 as Lancashire piled up 462-6 dec on
the first day of their last match of the season against
Leicestershire, which they need to win to clinch the title.
Lloyd raced to his century in 75 minutes and hit a total of 12
sixes, dominating a fourth wicket stand of 211 with Steve
Titchard - who scored 52. Lancashire then opened the bowling
with spinners Chris Schofield and Gary Yates, and each took a
wicket to reduce Leicestershire to 26-2.
Source: The Lancashire Evening Telegraph
Contributed by CricInfo Management, and reproduced with permission
Date-stamped : 25 Feb1998 - 18:55