Cricket Ireland has proposed a new format for the ISC and NC for next season. The new format would involve the 32 teams being broken down into eight groups of four. Each group would have at least one team from the three larger Unions and would play the other teams once. The eight winners from the four-team groups would go into an open-draw quarter-final.
The rankings of the teams from the first group stage would be maintained [points and bonus points are on offer] and in the event that a subsequent match was not played due to the weather, the higher ranked team would go through. There would be reserve dates for the knockout stages.
What this means for Leinster clubs is that each team would play three matches rather than one [if they were to lose in the first round under the previous format] or two [if they were to lose in the second round] before the quarter-final stage.
In the case of the National Cup a similar format woud be used with the difference that the first four-team group round woud be drawn on a regional basis. This woud mean two groups of four in the Leinster region.
This issues will be raised under ‘any-other-business’ at the forthcoming AGM of the LCU. Clubs involved are asked to consider their positions and to be prepared to indicate on the night what their preference is regarding the proposed format.