GREATER MANCHESTER CRICKET LEAGUE: "WE'RE IN"

On May 12th, Tottington St John's formally notified the NMCL of our decision to resign from the league and commit to the Greater Manchester Cricket League (GMCL) for 2016. As the longest serving members of the NMCL, with a proud and rich history in association with our league, this decision was not taken lightly.

However, our confidence and belief in the principles underpinning the GMCL, its obvious and tangible benefits not just to our club but also its promise to safeguard the future of cricket in our region makes it an obvious choice for us. We have discussed the matter at length both at committee level and with all our club members and have received unanimous backing for the move to the GMCL. Our own concerns with existing playing structures, the loss of long-serving fellow clubs in recent years, and our inability to progress on the field have been well documented. We firmly believe that joining a pyramid system which affords many more opportunities to progress and develop our clubs on and off the field can only be of benefit to our members, to the NMCL clubs, and indeed to the sport in general.

We remain firmly committed to the NMCL for 2015, and look forward to engaging with our friends and colleagues at the other clubs as we move forward together. We hope that all member clubs within the NMCL will join us in welcoming the return of exciting and competitive cricket, and to progressing forward as one united group. We would also like to formally record our thanks to Martin Kay and John Barrow for their open and honest discussions with us and our fellow NMCL clubs throughout the process, and for their diligence and sheer hard graft in working with 10 leagues and dozens of club officials to bring this proposal to fruition.

There may well still be much to discuss and to develop, but we are now committed to the GMCL and wholeheartedly believe that we are "better together".