Hearse bowled over by ruling

ISLAND coach Dave Hearse has hit out at the decision to reduce the minimum number of bowlers allowed in an evening league match from four to three. At Thursday night's Guernsey Cricket Association AGM, Salemites put forward the proposal to go back to three bowlers in a bid to try to improve the standard of top-flight evening league. An overwhelming majority carried it.

Yet Hearse, who was a fast bowler for the island team in his day, is not in favour of it.

'I'm against it going down to three,' said Hearse.

'I don't know why they are doing it. I think everyone has embraced the change and overall it has been working.

'There are no restrictions on batsmen. They are stopping potential bowlers who might not get a bowl now.

'We've got a stream of talented youngsters coming through and they might not get a chance now to play the Twenty/20 version of the game.'

In recognising that it should try to encourage young bowlers, it was decided at the meeting that Divisions Three through to Division Six would stay with four bowlers. But Hearse feels this is missing the point.

'The better youngsters are going to be coming through in Division One and not in six,' he said.

He also pointed to international Twenty/20 matches where no bowler can bowl more than four overs in a match. This means that there is a minimum of five bowlers per game.

And with Guernsey taking on Jersey in September in their first Twenty/20 match Hearse believes that the island team will be involved in more short matches in the future.

He would like the evening league to be as close as to the Twenty/20 format as possible to help give his players the best preparation.

'We're going to have the opportunity to play in Twenty/20 tournaments in the future,' he said.

'They would be more prepared when you look at the rules of Twenty/20 and see how many bowlers you need.

'Plus I think the system works.'

In the other corner, Salemites believe that falling standards in the top flight over the past few years are partly due to the increase in the number of bowlers required.

'If you want to create a league that is worthy of the title of the first division, let the better bowlers bowl at the better batsmen. At that level, get the best bowlers bowling against the best batsmen and make the batsmen earn every run.

Salemites' other proposal at the meeting was to have a one run for a no-ball blanket penalty across Guernsey cricket. The motion was carried unanimously.

It was also decided that the evening league would be made up of six divisions with one to five having eight teams and Division Six having five.

As for the weekends, the Carey Olsen Weekend League officer Dave Piesing explained the big change to a second division which includes second XIs for all the Championship sides - Cobo, Elizabeth College, Mavericks, Optimists, Rovers and Wanderers.

They are likely to be joined by St Sampson's, Salemites and Sylvans in the league but this is yet to be finalised.

'It is a change of format and there is no guarantee of it being 100 per cent successful this season,' said Piesing.

'It is a big step going from a four-team league to one of eight or nine teams.

'It is a big commitment from the clubs and we have got to make sure all those teams fulfil the fixtures.

'We do not want a groundsman spending hours and hours getting pitches ready and then a team deciding on Friday afternoon that they cannot get a side out.'

Because of the second division entries, the GCA Trophy looks set to be dropped as it cannot be fitted in.

That would leave the GCA Cup for the championship sides and the Shield for the evening league division three to six sides