Maclaurin Report: Premier League back on agenda (6 Aug 1997)

6 August 1997

Premier League back on agenda

Lancashire Evening Telegraph

THE controversial Lancashire Premier League is back on the agenda. As well as the headline-grabbing recommendations for three conferences of six teams in the championship and a new two division one-day competition, the MacLaurin Report unveiled at Lord's yesterday insisted that county premier leagues must be introduced by 1999.

And it came up with a number of new incentives for clubs to join, including grants, a share of national sponsorship and a new knockout competition with the final at Lord's exclusively for Premier League clubs.

MacLaurin has also suggested that Premier League cricket is played over two days, with a ban on overseas players - parts of the original proposal for Lancashire which were watered down in a bid for compromise.

John Brewer, chairman of the Lancashire Cricket Board, received the report at Lord's and said today: "We are going to have to spend time considering the implications, but if it is passed we've got to get cracking because we will be asked to form a Premier League by 1999. "We would very much welcome the involvement of English Cricket Board officials, and give them the opportunity to explain the proposals in detail to leagues and clubs.

"We want to achieve Premier Leagues by consent, which is what the ECB want, and it's clear that they are committed to the idea - to the point where they are proposing that Premier League clubs will qualify for an annual grant and possibly receive revenue from a national sponsorship."

The Lancashire Committee meet on August 19 to discuss their response to the Report, but it would be a major surprise if they don't vote in favour, along with most other counties, on September 15.

Even though the Report appears to contain a number of compromises, notably an increase in one-day cricket, there is a mood for change given England's continuing problems.

Source :: Lancashire Evening Telegraph (https://www.reednews.co.uk/let/)