The competition is running an umpires course on Sunday 28th March at BAC/EE Preston. The course runs from 10am to 4pm and the cost is £10 including lunch. The course is aimed at people who have not taken the full umpiring course but do undertake some umpiring duties whether at weekend games or junior level.
The Moore and Smalley Palace Shield will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Meyler Cup in 2010. In 1935, Mr Eric Meyler of Fulwood and Broughton Cricket Club presented the Palace Shield competition with a new trophy. This new Meyler Cup was to be played for by the clubs in a knock-out competition. The games were played midweek over two evenings with the innings 16 eight balls over per side with the draw being made on a regional basis. The final was 24 eight ball over per side and was played on a Saturday in August with Blackpool the first winners beating Lancaster in the final.
The competition continued in much the same format for several years even during the Second World War until 1952 when several clubs left to form the Northern League and the Meyler Cup abandoned the regional format and the draw was open although the format remained the same until 1954 when the final also became a two evening game rather than a Saturday. In 1970, the Meyler Cup moved to Sundays with each innings 24 eight ball overs but this only lasted 2 years before reverting to midweek until 1978. This time, the format altered to the now traditional Sunday format of innings of 40 six ball overs with bowlers restricted to 8 overs each and this format has remained largely the same ever since.
24 different clubs have won the trophy in the past 75 years with South Shore leading the way with 11 wins and 2 shares of the trophy. Vernon Carus lead the way in recent years with 8 wins since their first win in 1987. In 2010, Longridge will aim to retain the trophy having won it for the third time last year.
It is a testimony to the Palace Shield committee along with Eric Meyler in the 1930s to have the vision to set up this cup as one of the oldest limited overs competitions in cricket. It was a further 34 years before the first class game introduced one-day cricket and into the 21st century before the adoption of Twenty 20 cricket many years after Eric Meyler first donated the trophy which is still fiercely contested today.
The Meyler Cup final in 2010 will take place at BAC/EE Preston's Riverside ground on Sunday 15th August. The Moore and Smalley Palace Shield would like anyone who has played in a previous Meyler Cup final to attend. They are also keen to hear from anyone who may have featured in or witnessed the early finals or anyone with any interesting stories regarding this competition. Please contact Dave Lever on 01772-517181 or via the levers@blueyonder.co.uk with any information.
The 2010 fixture list has been published and the fixtures can be seen on tha tab. Additionally, the cup draws have been made and the games for the Preliminary round can be seen on fixtures for 9th May.
For those new to our league, details of all clubs are available on the clubs page with links a map of their loacation and to the club website where applicable.
