24th February 2015
| Mallory Gray
In 2015 the U13 & U15 Welsh Cup Competitions will run through May to
August and be played in August at a premier venue, the SWALEC
Stadium.
This will allow an increased length
of time for clubs to complete fixtures and sustain a meaningful
competition. The ECB U13 & U15 Club Championships,
meanwhile, will be an invitation-only competition organised by Cricket
Wales consisting of 6 - 8 teams in each age group. The winners will then
progress into the later stages of the ECB Club Championships as in the
past.
The reason behind this decision was that last
year the number of teams entering the above competition continued to
decline at sixty-eight. This was a 25% decrease (23 teams) in just
three years. There are several reasons for this: the weather; travel;
availability of players etc. However, the major problem was having to
fit into the ECB dates for its National Competition, meaning that our Finals
Days had to be late June/early July. It has been a nightmare for clubs
getting up to four rounds played in the eight-week period given all
their players' other commitments (including GCSE examinations for many U15s) and not forgetting the impact of the
weather.
It has been regarded as essential that we are able to use the SWALEC stadium to make the Welsh
Cup a prestigious competition that players and their clubs would want to
be a part of. To sit on the balcony where one of the Ashes teams sat
only a month before and to play on the same pitch would be a wonderful
experience. It has taken five months of negotiations but Ted Tipper, the organiser, is pleased to announce that Glamorgan CCC has now given Cricket Wales
two dates: Monday 10th August for the U15 Finals Day and Tuesday 11th
August for the U13s.
Each Day will involve three teams in a round-robin
format, one each from North Wales, South East Wales and South West
Wales. Teams from Mid Wales (regrettably very low in number in recent
years) will play in their nearest Region in the north or south. The
competition will be played very much to the same Rules and zonal
arrangements as last year but we will have a longer time frame within which to
complete the matches and won't have to start so early in the season.
Ted Tipper adds: "We
plan to play each round on set dates (Sundays) to fit in around the
senior cup dates but recognise that this could clash with League,
Regional and Wales fixtures. We hope the opportunity to play at a Test
Match stadium will enthuse our young players and that everyone can be
flexible in the way they operate. By this I mean if, as a League
Organiser, and matches are scheduled on a 'cup' Sunday, clubs are given
dispensation to play another day."
It is hoped that Regional Chairman will find a way to allow some regional players to play for their club in
the competition (within reason), especially if it means another player can get a
game in his place in their regional side. Similar
discussions are taking place with the CW Senior Management Team over Wales clashes with Regional and Club fixtures. Regional officers and coaches have been asked to consider these proposals and to pass on any reactions to Ted Tipper. For instance, the
Monmouthshire League for junior teams will not play fixtures on dates set aside for the cup competitions and every
endeavour will be made to give the players the choice if there is a clash with a
regional fixture.
An application form for the 2015 competitions can be downloaded from this site -
Competitions Under 13s and Under 15s 2015