THE MERRY-GO-ROUND of debates and negotiations about the future of recreational cricket in Lancashire continues to turn. After a series of meetings and some tough discussions the officials at Old Trafford received their first major boost in more than two years on January 25th when the clubs in the Penketh's Liverpool Competition voted 23-0, with one abstention, to accept the offer of the Lancashire Cricket Board to become one of their Premier Leagues. Cricket in the new structure should begin in 2000.

But perhaps the dominant mood at last month's EGM was the solidarity felt by the 24 clubs in the competition and a determination that all of them must be part of the Premier League set-up, not merely the 12 who will make up the top division. Thus, Fleetwood Hesketh, Maghull and Orrell, who play their first matches in the competition in April having voted to leave the Southport and District League last summer, will also be part of the new structure, although unless they gain promotion at the first attempt they will be in a First Division of 12 clubs, one or more of whom will be promoted each year.

It is the firm intention of the LCB that a Pyramid structure involving other local leagues be established within two years, although the details of this will need to be hammered out in future meetings. And the Competition's Management Committee was left in no doubt that their negotiations with the LCB would be subjected to the closest scrutiny. The acceptance of Premier League status should emphatically not be seen as the clubs surrendering their sovereignty over the Liverpool Competition, and the Chairman Eric Hadfield reflected the prevailing mood: ``I feel confident that we have taken the right decision but a lot of negotiating remains to be done and we are looking forward to talking to the LCB.''

The effects of the proposed change in the short term would be mainly limited to an even higher profile for a league which can justifiably claim to be one of the best in the country and the possibility of a lucrative sponsorship deal. The LCB has accepted the Competition's insistence on playing the timed game rather than the limited overs variety, although the English Cricket Board has insisted that sufficient time be allowed for games to be at least 120 overs long, so a 12:30 start appears likely with a requirement that overs be bowled at a rate of 17 an hour. In the context of the recent history of Premier League negotiations the current situation is partly the result of a major change of tactics by the LCB, who, after gauging the opposition from leagues in East Lancashire, decided not to try to recruit clubs from all over the county but concentrate on identifying the strongest leagues who might be suitable candidates for Premiership status. Thus, the Vaux Northern League has been made the same offer as that put to the Competition, although we understand that objections to the longer game and other misgivings, about feeder leagues for example, are well-entrenched among V.N.L. clubs who want to hold further discussions with both the LCB and ECB. Their Secretary Ken Tattersall pointed to other leagues in the country who are playing matches of 110 overs or less and asked: ``What is so sacrosanct about 120 overs?'' He felt that matches of this length would make too many demands upon family lives and work commitments of players who are, after all, recreational cricketers.