NYSD league restructure backed by Barnard Castle CC

RULE changes agreed by the NYSD cricket league for the 2017 season have been backed by Barnard Castle CC.
Under the changes, there will now be five Saturday divisions instead of four. The top four will have 12 teams while the new bottom division is contested by eight.
This means all teams in the top four divisions will play 22 league matches, with 21 in lowest tier.
Promotion and relegation will be two-up two-down throughout all divisions.
In the premier division, a 30 yard fielding circle will be introduced in all league matches, with a maximum of five fielders allowed outside the circle at any stage of the innings.
With teams amassing higher totals, the batting bonus points have been altered and will now be awarded for scoring 125, 150, 175, 200 and 225 runs.
Previously, batting bonus points were awarded every 25 runs after teams had reached 100.
The Kerridge Cup – the oldest league cup competition in the world – will now be a 40-overs-a-side competition, with the first two rounds played on the two bank holiday Mondays in May.
The junior league has been split into three geographical divisions, with Barney playing in Junior North along with Darlington, Richmond, Newton Aycliffe, Sedgefield, Norton and Stockton.
The changes were agreed at the league's annual meeting. Barnard Castle CC president Stephen Brenkley was among those present.
He said: “Originally, the old NYSD comprised 20 teams going nowhere. Then promotion and relegation came in and since then it’s been a case of trying to get each division down to a manageable size.
“With 12 teams and two-up two-down, in the top division it will concentrate minds to get a good team out.
“Ultimately, this is a good thing. Each division will be played at a good standard and it is noticeable that six teams in the second tier are exclusively first teams. That’s got to be good.”
Mr Brenkley said expanding the Kerridge Cup to 40 overs would bring added kudos to the competition.
“Our biggest crowd last season was a bank holiday Monday game against Darlington.
“We hope to replicate that on Kerridge Cup days,” he added.
He said that although the Barney bowling attack features a number of spinners, the club was also in favour of the fielding circle.
The introduction of an extra five points for a win batting first has meant more teams are likely to set a target and try to bowl the opposition out to claim 25 points rather than take 20 points for chasing down a total.
“The team that gets most 25 pointers has the better chance of being champions,” said Mr Brenkley.
“You have got to bowl sides out and you don’t do that by having ten men round the boundary.”
The restructure of junior cricket will have little impact on Barney, who were in the north division of the previous north-south set up.
Mr Brenkley said Barney had always been something of an outpost as far as the NYSD was concerned.
But he added: “It is a small price to pay for being part of the best cricket league in the country.”