Cricket: IS DELAY NEEDED? Huddersfield cricket finally up and running but debate over the kick-off date continues Opinion swings towards later start to Drakes League season.

Byline: By DAVID LOCKWOOD Sports Reporter

AFTER months of hard work and planning during the dark winter months, the new season is finally up and running - albeit a week late.

And with the exception of one game (the Premiership meeting of Melthamand Delph & Dobcross) everyone got away more or less okay.

However the damp outfields, spongy tracks and several required layers of clothing has again posed the question - does the Drakes Cricket League season start too early?

And the answer from the majority of grounds men, and an increasingly-large number of players, is yes!

Noticeable over the last few seasons has been the number of cricketers who have begun to express their concerns over getting the season under way on the traditional third Saturday in April, particularly when the back end of the campaign tends, on the whole, to be drier.

Those arguing in favour of it of course, will point to last season, when Britain was in the middle on an unseasonal Easter heat wave.

And back in 2006 everyone got away to an uninterrupted start, although at least three jumpers and heavy-duty travelling rugs were 'de rigeur' for both players and spectators.

But a look back through the records reveals that in 2004, 2003 and 2002, all clubs suffered some degree of rain-hit disruption on opening day, while in 2001 and 2000, every single match on the second weekend was washed out.

The millennium season also suffered a host of abandonments on the opening day.

In 1999, the first week was washed out with many also hit on the second week, while the previous year, the league took the same line they have this time, calling off the opening day and rescheduling it for later in the season.

And going back 12 seasons to 1997, the second week of the schedule was down as a double header, and the Sunday programme (which was still in April) was again a complete wash-out.

Of course it is not simply a case of games being lost to the weather, there is also the question of getting grounds ready for the start of the season, and then hoping they are not going to suffer damage by playing on them when they are clearly not fit.

It is an opinion shared be some of the League clubs' grounds men, who annually face a struggle to get their fields ready in time.

One supporter of putting the season's start time back is Steve Casaru, who as well as being a full-time grounds man, is also Barkisland's cricket chairman.

"I've been facing a constant battle again this season, because we've barely had four days together when it's been suitable to work on the ground," said Casaru.

"It's bad enough for grounds men like myself, Craig McCreadie and Dave Fletcher, because we have all the necessary equipment.

"If we've got a problem then I'm certainly very worried for some of the smaller clubs, who rely mainly on voluntary labour, and where they may only have limited equipment.

"I think putting the start of the season back, if only for a week, would make a big difference.

"And I'm not changing my opinion simply because we had a good Spring last year. Last year apart, we nearly always have this problem at the start of the season.

"I've been wondering how on earth I can prepare two pitches this weekend at Brighouse, where like us with the Sykes Cup, they too have a double header because of the Bradford League's Priestley Cup.

"I've already lost one strip completely, but they have 20 down here, so it's not that big a problem.

"But if I lose one at Barkisland I'm down to just seven for the rest of the summer, and I know at some clubs if they were to lose a couple of tracks they would really struggle to manage.

"It's not just the wicket either, because you have to consider the bowlers' footholds which you can't repair properly because they are not drying out at this stage of the season.

"Yet in September when the season is over and we are ready to re-seed you have to water it in because the ground is rock hard. And I can't help thinking 'Instead of ripping it up we should still be playing on it'.

"I just don't know why we have to start in mid-April.

"The league say by putting it back we would clash with other sports, but aren't we doing that now.

"Clubs are still playing rugby league and rugby union, not to mention football is still going on, so what's the difference?"

Broad Oak's Craig McCreadie, who also looks after a number of grounds, and was himself a player of some note, agrees with many of Casaru's concerns.

"Not only can you ruin a track by playing in poor conditions, but also the strips at either side which batsmen are running on," said McCreadie.

"I'm also very concerned on the health and safety aspect too.

"It's okay telling players to be careful, but in a competitive environment, the focus is on the game, and players are not watching their feet in what could be slippy conditions, when half the time the grounds won't hold a stud.

"Yes, we can take lumps out of wickets quite easily, and grounds men like my self, Steve and Dave will scarify them out, tine them and re-seed into the holes, and they can recover within a month or so.

"But as Steve remarks, we do have the right equipment. For others I'm sure it's a struggle.

"There is also the question of investment and financial conditions to be considered, as clubs who don't have specialist equipment have to then bring someone in to sort it out which is a cost they wouldn't otherwise have incurred.

"One of the other things you tend to find, is that by the back end of the season, matches are being played on what maybe have been junior strips which have had less hammer, but are very close to a boundary."

Food for thought then, and with the shift in weather patterns, perhaps now is the time the league's executive might consider banishing tradition to history, and delaying the start.

CAPTION(S):

NEW IN TOWN: Aussie Tim Welsford marked his debut by helping Golcar kick off their Drakes League campaign with a nine-wicket win over Shepley. (PC260408Ccricket-5); LIKELY LADS: Golcar got away to a comfortable start against Shepley, with the Drakes League's leading all-rounder Steve Whitwam again proving his value to the Swallow Laners with both runs and wickets. Today they were in Drakes Premiership action at Elland while tomorrow they march on Armitage Bridge as they set about improving on their recent Romida Sykes Cup record. Pictured are: Back row, from left: Mick Illingworth, Craig Horner, Craig Ruscoe, James Sykes, Ben Robshaw, Tim Welsford. Front row: Gary Colman, Steve Whitwam, Ashley Pamment, Simon Walker, Glenn Collier. Picture by Paul Welch. (PW190408Eanniv-01); OUT: Shepley's Sam Haigh goes against Golcar.