Cricket clubs asked to vote on whether to bring new league restructure in 2018

The four leagues - the Sussex Premier, East Sussex, Mid Sussex and West Sussex Invitation - will all form the new Sussex Cricket League from 2019. Following the the 2018 season, all clubs will be formally invited to join the new league and its first AGM will take place in October/November 2018 and at that point, the four existing leagues will be dissolved. But number of clubs wanted the restructure to take place from the 2018 season and in an email from Gary Stanley on behalf of the Adult Leagues Group (ALG) to all clubs involved, they have asked for clubs to vote on whether it should be introduced early. The email said: “A very significant number of Clubs have expressed a desire for the playing side of the new structure to be in place for 2018, operated for one year only by the four existing league Committees. Should the majority of Clubs wish this to be the case, all governance aspects of the new league would then be prepared during 2018, ready for the new league to operate from the 2018 AGM onward. “Having looked closely at the practicalities, we are certain that this can be done. Therefore, we now need to establish quickly by a vote of clubs whether there is enough of a desire among Clubs to justify beginning the playing structure in 2018. Accordingly, the ALG is asking you to tell us what your Club would like to do. We will conduct a simple process, based on one vote per Club and requiring a simple majority of club votes to be passed. If you do not vote, it will be assumed that you have no preference and are happy to go with the majority.” The details below show the details on what the club are voting for: STRUCTURE * The ALG selected the structure that was most popular, based on the enormous volume of feedback received from clubs during the consultation process. * A small group with combined knowledge of all four leagues then placed every team in Sussex in that structure. We have tried to do this as fairly as possible, balancing teams’ perceived level with their location. * The resulting DRAFT structure is attached, including the finishing position of the teams last season. * Whilst the structure will not materially change, we would like to hear from any Club that wants to discuss the position of any of its teams. If you have been placed in what you believe is the wrong division or region, we will do our best to explain the rationale and/or put you where you want to be. * If you have a team in the current structure that you will not be fielding in 2018, or if you would like to enter extra teams, please let me know. Please bear in mind that the bottom of the structure will always change slightly with teams joining or leaving. PLAYING CONDITIONS (Match Formats etc.) * The intention is that each part of the structure will - for 2018 only – adopt the playing conditions of the league that is running it. So, if you are down to move from the current SPCL to the West region for example, you would play WSICL rules in 2018. * Once the new league proper starts in 2019, playing conditions will be entirely decided by voting at the 2018 AGM. * It is important to note that all teams who are effectively changing leagues for 2018 will have the right to propose rule changes to be voted on at this year’s league AGMs (which are all in November). Any proposal must follow the procedure that will be in place in that league. Any rule change proposals or other agenda items already submitted to an AGM are unaffected, but new teams would have the right to vote on them. WEBSITE / FIXTURES / REGISTRATION * If you do collectively vote to start in 2018, there will be a brand-new Play Cricket website created over the next 2-3 months which will be used in 2018 for everything that you will currently find/use on your league Play Cricket site. * The existing Play Cricket sites will be archived into the new one, so player stats etc. will be carried forward. * Fixtures for all divisions will be generated centrally from the new Play Cricket website. You would still need to advise your league fixture secretary of any details (free dates requests, pitch unavailability etc.) as you do now. * Player registration would also be done via the new website. All current registrations would be transferred (so no need to do anything), apart from those that are normally renewed on an annual basis, i.e. Category If you have any questions or comments about the structure or anything else above that you need to clarify before voting, please don’t hesitate to e-mail gary.stanley@sussexcricket.co.uk gary.stanley@sussexcricket.co.uk or call him (evening or weekend preferably) on 07775 933311. Given the tight timeframe, the deadline for voting will be Monday 16th October. Please advise the ALG via the above e-mail address of your preference – 2018 or 2019 – by that date. You are also welcome to advise us if you have no preference. Gary Stanley added in the email: “As I have said above, the first thing to bear in mind is that the restructuring is going to happen. You are deciding WHEN rather than IF.”