THE LANCASHIRE League's new rules have come under fire for promoting negative Cricket from West Indies Test ace Keith Arthurton, writes PETE OLIVER.

And there are not many players in world cricket better qualified to comment on the one-day game than the in-form West Indian.

Rawtenstall professional Arthurton opened his season with an unbeaten 103 against Church and hit 93 in Sunday's game with East Lancashire following his most productive ever Caribbean summer.

But Rawtenstall are yet to get a positive result from their first five fixtures after draws were introduced by the league at the start of the season.

And it is the option of batting out for a draw that has been criticised by the elegant left-hander.

"The rules they have introduced are ridiculous," said Arthurton, who led Ramsbottom to the league title in 1992-the first of three successful summers he spent at Acre Bottom.

"If you play a one-day competition you should be able to get a result in one day.

"I think they are taking away the excitement of the game.

"If teams lose their professional early and they know their batting is a bit suspect they look to shut up shop. Guys are just blocking to earn two points.

"It's not good for cricket and it's not good to look at.

"These (limited overs matches with a result) are the rules of world cricket and you have got to have a good foundation in case players come through and get to the top.

"Picture yourself watching the game you love and it's not exciting."

Arthurton certainly couldn't be accused of short-changing the watching public during the Caribbean season when he re-wrote the West Indian record books. The Leeward Islander broke Brian Lara's aggregate run record for the domestic one-day competition with 408 runs at an average of 136.

He hit two centuries to help his side win the competition and only once failed to pass 50 on his way to winning the tournament's most valuable player award.

And Arthurton has been disappointed to find that for him the Lancashire League has lost some of its lustre since he last played four summers ago.

"A lot of people know about Lancashire League cricket back home and I always praise it because it's the best league in the country but then if you get these sort of rules then it loses a lot," he warned.

However, the pro-change camp believes the new rules and introduction of draws will have a beneficial effect in the pursuit of improved standards of cricket demanded by the English Cricket Board.

And East Lancashire captain Mark Lomas, who was on the committee that drew up the new rules, believes the changes have been well accepted with the inevitable early teething problems which have been exacerbated by the bad weather.

He said: "Our objective was that sides know how to bowl sides out and how to bat properly and to bat out for a draw you have got to bat properly.

"You have got to show the initiative to bowl sides out and that will not happen in a season or a season and-a-half, it will take a couple of years."

And Lomas believes that the cricket can still be exciting if captains approach games in a positive manner and recognise the strengths and weaknesses of their own sides and the opposition in setting a target or pursuing a run chase.

"Two points to everybody all season is useless. You have got to try and win and if players and captains play like that then you will have exciting games," he added.

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