A NEW board to oversee grass roots Cricket in Lancashire comes into being next month despite a wave of opposition.

The formation of the Lancashire Cricket Board has left a sour taste in the mouths of local league officials.

The LCB aims to take over the work of the Lancashire Cricket Association and Lancashire Youth Cricket.

And the board intends to set-up a Lancashire Super League with a view to enhancing the development of players in the region.

The board and its aims have attracted intense criticism from Lancashire League officials, with support from the Central and Northern leagues.

But LCB chairman John Brewer said: "It isn't something we've gone into lightly.

"A working party has been in operation for 12 months, one which was consulted widely before setting up the structure of the board."

Lancashire League chairman Peter Westwell said there had been no consultation at a local level.

He said: "They set the board up and then called a meeting.

"We have to be members of the board but I cannot see the end product being what they would have hoped for. We think they are going along the wrong lines. Why didn't they come out to the grass roots and talk to us and then set something up?"

Mr Westwell is due to attend a meeting of the League Cricket Conference next month when opposition to the national initiative of an English Cricket Board will be discussed.

The LCB has been set up ahead of this national development and, although based at Old Trafford, claims to be fully independent of the county.

New Lancashire secretary Dave Edmundson will be the LCB secretary with other sub-committee chairmen including Ribblesdale League secretary Jack Cross, Ken Holt, Bill Robinson and Jim Kenyon.

Sports council chiefs have called a no-ball on cricket's bid to pouch a financial windfall from the National Lottery - because there is no structure for the development of the game in this country.

Sport Council chief executive Derek Casey explained: "Unfortunately there is no development plan for cricket in this country and the long-awaited English Cricket Board - due to begin operations in January - is still on the governing bodies' drawing board."

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