Published at 21:33, Wednesday, 02 November 2011

CLUBS in the Eden Valley Cricket League (EVCL) will be playing their cricket in another country in the 2012 season.

The EVCL is one of the Cumbria’s three major weekend cricket leagues and is traditionally associated with the gentle rolling pastures and green and fertile land of the Eden Valley but as from next season a number of clubs in the league’s fourth tier will play their cricket in bonnie Scotland.

This follows the unanimous decision of all clubs attending the league’s AGM in Penrith to admit the 1st XI cricketers of Langholm cricket club.

The league had previously stretched its boundaries to include the Keswick and Cockermouth clubs in its structure but to venture over the border into Scotland marks a significant new departure.

The EVCL was 100 per cent behind the move as indicated by the strength of the vote in favour at the meeting.

In making a successful application to join the EVCL, Langholm cricket club will leave the Border League. Strangely enough, they had to travel further at weekends for their cricket in Scotland than they will when competing in the Eden Valley.

For EVCL clubs in the league’s bottom tier, the third division of a four-tier league (premier, first, second and third) the journey into Scotland will see them play on a scenic ground with a refurbished and extended pavilion.

The case for joining the EVCL was put by Langholm CC representative Duncan Elliott who said the club, founded in 1858, was ambitious and needed a fresh challenge, having played in the Border League since 1930.

The club fielded two senior teams and three junior teams and it would be the 1st XI which would play in the EVCL if accepted.

He said: “We have recently carried out £40,000 worth of improvements on our pavilion and are looking to extend further. Visiting teams will receive great hospitality and if they would like to make a day of it and stay for a social event in the evening, they will be most welcome.”

The Langholm representatives expressed their delight on returning to the meeting room and being informed they had been unanimously accepted into the EVCL.

A suggestion by the EVCL management committee that they be immediately elevated to the league’s second division was narrowly defeated.

Duncan told the E&L Advertiser: "As a club, we have worked very hard over the last few years. We see our entry into the EVCL as the right move. The league has four divisions which means we will always have something to play for. We will play against teams from all over Cumbria, visiting new grounds and playing against different players.

“The Border League will always be an important part of our history and nobody will ever forget the 1976 championship winning season.

“But times change. We now have a refurbished pavilion and a lot of youngsters playing the game. We want to make sure those youngsters have a club in 20 years’ time and we are looking forward to starting a new chapter in the club's history."

Published by http://www.eladvertiser.co.uk