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[mdl_1979]

Morning all,

Just thought I would ask a quick question.  Last night I attended an EGM of the Hertfordshire League, which sought to deal with a proposal to regionalise Divisions 11-14.  Do the lower reaches of any other leagues out there do similar in the lower divisions to reduce travelling time?  The proposal was defeated by the way, but I thought it was a pretty good idea at that level of cricket.

Cheers,

Mark

[Liam-SCCC]

Our league has done it for the bottom division on a saturday, not sure how successful it was as the team numbers seem to be quite low.

http://dorsetcricket.org/league-tables/league-tables2010

[mdl_1979]

Presume you guys play each team home and away?  We have 20 teams in each division, so it means you play each team only once.  I think I would prefer a structure where you play everyone home and away.

[Liam-SCCC]

Yeah, we play everyone twice. Home and away. I don't play in the div 8 N/E S/W leagues. I play in Div 3, well Div 4 next year.

Playing home and away is good, although you do come across some horrible grounds. But then again you get some awesome grounds

[mdl_1979]

I play on possibly the worst pitch in our whole league, but I love the guys I play with.  Am so tempted to move, as have just moved to a new flat which overlooks a lovely ground, with a team in the same division, so I know I could hold my own.  But I would hate to miss out on the banter.

[peplow]

and you'd have to play against your mates once a season...

[ianbuchanan]

Mdl_1979 how far do you usually have to travel to matches?

[iand123]

The Kent Regional league does.

You have the Kent League (which is Premier - div 5 for both 1st and 2nd XI's) then you have the regional leage which feeds into the Kent League. I think the top two leagues are county wide, but after that its regionalised lower down to ease travelling. It doesnt always work out though. for example, our 3's play in 1b West Kent and our 4's (who i play for) are in 2a east. So as where our 3's have a furthest journey of about 15 miles, our closest is about 20 miles and 7 out of 9 were over 40-50 miles away. To make it even worse the 2 teams who went down were the 2 closest, so i believe all of our games are now over 30 miles away

[Buzz]

I moved clubs a few years ago as I moved house and I wanted a new challenge as I didn't get on with the 1st team captain of my old club.

Firstly, yes if you move clubs you get a bit of banter, but if you leave on the right note it should be fine.

Secondly, if you are thinking about moving clubs, go to their winter nets and find out if you like the people and like where they are trying to take their club - when I moved I went to two clubs winter nets and then joined the club in the better league. There is no commitment at that stage. The advantage of playing inches from your home should not be underestimated, but if you think you are only going to be for a year or so, then don't move clubs at this stage.

Ammusingly enough, the club i left is now playing in the better leagues with the same skipper (!) I wont move clubs again as the facilities at where I play are a bit lovely and the pitch is a road.

[tim2000s]

Hampshire do it at the County Division 4 (North and South) and Regional Divisions as well. Regional 1 is North and South and Divisions 2 and 3 are NE, NW, SE and SW with Div 4 being NE, NW, SE, South Central and SW. Very confusing, but limits travel pretty effectively.

[mdl_1979]

Mdl_1979 how far do you usually have to travel to matches?

Furthest I have to go is probably 40 miles so not as bad as some, but then my club is relatively central within the county, and I only live about 10 miles away from our home ground.

[Canners]

Buzz im guessing you only play the home games hence your amazing average, and only bat on the road of your home pitch ...... will you be playing more games next season?

[ianbuchanan]

Ah quite a distance then... They are re-structuring our league for the 2011 season as at the moment we are travelling a long way to out games... Just found out our furthest game is 84.4 miles! Google Maps.....

[Washington]

There is a meeting scheduled for next month 2 discuss zoning both the bottom divisions and umpires in our league (North Wales) which should be interesting! I moved clubs last season and it really invigorated my love for cricket. As buzz said if you leave on a good note then its fine! I played against my old team mates including my brother in the cockspur t20 cup! So many jokes/banter aimed my way . . . But it was all good! Best thing I did was change clubs

[mdl_1979]

If I do leave it would be on a good note.  I have been open with the guys at my current club about the fact that I have been considering it.  Just can't make up my mind!