Regions to bridge gap between club and country
The 2010 cricket season in Scotland will begin on Sunday April 18 with the first of a new 'Regional Series' of representative matches, Cricket Scotland has announced. The new competition is designed to allow the country's top cricketers to stake their claim for selection to the national squads.
Three squads of 16 players will compete for the Caledonian Highlanders, Western Warriors or Eastern Knights teams in two rounds of 40-overs-a-side matches, under rules similar to those of the Clydesdale Bank 40, on a home-and-away basis during the season.
The first three matches will be completed early in the season, to inform the national selectors prior to the initial selections for the Scotland Lions and Scottish Saltires senior teams to play against the English counties. The second group of three games will be played towards the end of the season, to allow the selectors to choose their winter training squads.
The principal aims of the Regional Series are:
- To bridge the ever-widening gap between club and international cricket, thus raising the highest standard of cricket played domestically.
- To allow players to stake a claim for future international recognition in the highest possible standard of domestic competition.
The overall winners at the end of the season will be decided on the basis of a traditional league format.
In addition to the 40-over Regional Series, a one-off 'T20 Big Bash' will be held on the final Sunday of the season, with all three teams playing each other in a single day.
Full details of those selected for each of the squads will be announced in the next week. At this stage, it can be revealed that Jan Stander (pictured left) will captain the Caledonian Highlanders, while Gordon Drummond (centre) leads the Eastern Knights and Qasim Sheikh (right) skippers the Western Warriors.
The fixture schedule for the Regional Series matches will be as follows:
|
Date |
Home Team |
v |
Away Team |
Venue |
|
Sun 18 April |
Caledonian Highlanders |
v |
Eastern Knights |
Strathmore CC |
|
Sun 25 April |
Eastern Knights |
v |
Western Warriors |
Watsonian CC |
|
Mon 3 May |
Western Warriors |
v |
Caledonian Highlanders |
Clydesdale CC |
|
Sun 5 Sept |
Western Warriors |
v |
Eastern Knights |
Uddingston CC |
|
Sat 11 Sept |
Caledonian Highlanders |
v |
Western Warriors |
Arbroath CC |
|
Sun 12 Sept |
Eastern Knights |
v |
Caledonian Highlanders |
Grange CC |
|
Sat 18 Sept |
T20 Big Bash |
Warriors, Knights, Highlanders |
Arbroath CC |
Cricket Scotland’s Head of Performance, Andy Tennant, said: "We are excited about the long-term challenge of building a top-class level of competition within Scotland. This year's Regional Series is the first step on that journey."
He added: "The regional teams have been drawn from the three traditional powerbases of Scottish cricket, and I am sure will carry a strong regional identity. We can already tell it means something, as the players have started talking up the rivalries at training."
Watch Andy Tennant describing the Regional Series on Cricket Scotland TV 7 April 2010
