Published at 19:41, Thursday, 03 April 2008

CUMBRIA Junior Cricket League will have a new structure for the 2008 season, which gets underway on April 25.

The changes are aimed at providing competitive games across a wide ability range and giving every team something to play for right up to the end of the season.

There will be a tiered premier and division one structure at U13 and U15 levels for the very first time while the U11 league continues to operate on a regional basis.

The Cumbria Junior League spans an area from Seascale in the west, across to Appleby in the east and up to Lanercost in the north of the county, and comprises of 64 teams across the three age groups.

The number of teams is up 10 on two seasons ago, with games predominantly played on Monday evenings (U11) Friday evenings (U15) and Sunday mornings (U13).

U15 teams from Cockermouth (2006) and Penrith (2007) have gone on to represent the league and county with great distinction in the National Portman Cup Competition, underlining the quality of junior cricket in the county.

The Cumbria league is actually one of three that operates in the county, the others being the Barrow & District Junior League and the Westmorland Junior League.

In all there are 150 junior teams providing well over 1,500 juniors with regular competitive cricket across the county - a which can only bode well for the fortunes of Cumbria’s junior and, ultimately, senior teams.

Nationally, the Twenty20 competition has caught the imagination of the fans. A Ten10 version of the game was introduced to the junior league two seasons ago and run at U13 level last season.

It proved to be a big hit with juniors and watching parents alike with 18 teams playing across seven venues on one very hectic August Sunday.

Fast and furious, the game serves to reinforce the disciplines of accurate bowling, sharp fielding and good running between the wickets.

The league has its own website www.cumbriajuniorcricket.com where details of all this seasons fixtures, which starts on April 25, can be found.

The website also provides a link to every participating club, with directions to the ground and details of each club’s scheduled summer training night(s), most of which start over the coming weeks.

New junior players are always welcome and indeed are vital for the continued growth of the league. Interested youngsters should check out the website for details of their nearest club, if indeed the club isn't already working with local schools.

Each club will provide our budding junior cricketers with a fun and safe environment in which to learn the game, and hopefully, in some cases, develop into the next Kevin Pietersen or Ryan Sidebottom.

Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk