Clubs are upset by Cockspur Cup axe

Oct 8 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

CRICKET’S highly-regarded 45-over national knock-out will not take place next season.

Cockspur, the sponsors of the competition in 2008, are instead going to invest in the ECB’s Twenty20 Cup for recreational clubs, the finals of which attracted satellite television coverage last month.

The news has come as a shock to leading sides in the Business Assistance Liverpool Competition. Firwood Bootle, Ormskirk, Northern and Lytham have all reached the last 16 in recent years and there is anger that the chance to play in a Lord’s final has been removed with no consultation.

“I can’t believe it,” said Ormskirk captain Adam Waterhouse. “The whole romance of the Cockspur Cup was bound up with the prospect of playing at the home of cricket and I just think it’s a huge shame.

“We’d got to the last 16 four or five times in the last eight years. Those games were fantastic occasions.”

It is hoped that some form of national knock-out will be revived in 2010 although precise details will not be available until after the ECB has held discussions with clubs.