Dear all,
Firstly, we hope you and your families are all safe and well during these uncertain times.
With regards to the 2020 summer and the possibility of any cricket being played, please see the below the most recent announcement from the SNEL;
As part of the APG the Shepherd Neame Essex League agrees with the six points published by the group – and following the announcement the SNEL Exec has also come up with the following clarifications and announcements for the 2020 Shepherd Neame Essex League Season.
- No matches in the SNEL, Cup and T20 competitions will take place earlier than Sat 4th July and therefore the first half of the league season will be nulled and voided.
- First league games will attempt to be started on Sat July 11th – this is to attempt to play half a season of games (9). The current fixtures as currently published will remain unless XIs inform us that they cannot fulfil the fixtures. We will continue to follow advice from the ECB about whether recreational cricket will be able to be played at this time.
- Clubs will be given at least 3 weeks’ notice before any restart to the season.
- All matches that can take place in the 2020 SNEL season will be of the limited over format – coloured clothing or whites can be worn by 1st XI Premier or Div 1 1st XIs.
- There will be no promotion and relegation from any Divisions for the 2020 season.
- Champions and runners-up will still be crowned.
- There will still be an application process for clubs outside of the SNEL to join 1st XI Division 3 for the 2021 season – applications commencing in September 2020. The continued question marks over Clubmark will continue to be monitored by the Executive Committee. The committee will take into account the current situation that we are dealing with when looking at all applications.
- Overseas players will still be allowed as per the current league rules however we will accept registrations at any point up to the first actual league game of the 2020 season. IE The week 5 deadline no longer applies. Clubs should however diligently review their finances to decide whether this is a good use of their money in the current situation.
- Penalties for withdrawing a team from the league will not apply for the 2020 season. Teams will not be removed from their respective divisions for multiple concessions and there will be no point deductions for concessions.
- Disciplinary bans that were due to be served in the first weeks of the 2020 league season will be deemed to have been served.
- Once games can take place the SNEL Exec will work with clubs to ensure as much cricket is played as is reasonably possible. This may include playing cup matches on Sundays, like we usually do, – or creating cup or regional group mini leagues to be attempted to be played in September and October.
We shall update all members with further updates as and when we receive them.
We hope to see you all soon! Stay safe!
LCC