THREE clubs have resigned from the Bradford & District Evening League, with Bradshaw, Ciroc and Muff Field all bidding farewell after a season which saw nearly a third of fixtures not started or completed.

However, there was some good news, as secretary Phil Poole Snr told the league's annual meeting at East Bierley Cricket Club that four clubs were in the running to replace them - Saltaire, Bankfoot, Bingley Congs and Bradford College.

Poole said: "We are quite optimistic that three out of those four will join us to replace the three we have lost.

"If we get another two clubs in addition to those three it would bring us up to 16 teams, which would give us an ideal of two leagues of eight, but we will look at it again in January.

"An alternative is to go to one division, but we will try and avoid that."

In his annual report, Poole said that 30 of the 98 scheduled fixtures in 2019 didn't start or didn't complete - a 31 per cent figure compared to just eight per cent in 2018.

However, no games were conceded and there were no official complaints about the standard of grounds, although some unofficial comments were made about Muff Field.

Treasurer Smita Lymbery, giving her 24th annual report, showed a loss of £209.06, but that was mainly down to fines being reduced from £820 to £680.

New disciplinary officer Graham Langton had a quiet year, with only one case, which resulted in a suspended sentence.

The main rule change was that host clubs will be fined £10 per umpire if they notify the match officials that a game has been called off after the umpires have travelled.