LOCAL cricketers are about to make the biggest decision to affect the game in more than 100 years.

If a revolutionary new plan goes ahead the Bolton Association and Bolton League – along with eight other local leagues, some extremely long established – will go out of existence in the next two or three years and local clubs will play in a super-sized Greater Manchester League.

Is it a good idea or is it a bad one? To be honest I don’t know. Neither does anyone.

It could be the best thing that has ever happened to local cricket if everyone commits to it, every bit of the structure is spot on and the officials who run it know exactly what they are doing.

It could also be the worst thing that’s ever happened to local cricket if some teams or leagues duck out or poor organisation leads to a junior team from Egerton having to travel to the other side of Manchester in midweek or some such unforeseen problem.

Of course, the problem with anything like this is that people often don’t like change.

And while I’ve not made up my mind about this radical change, they may have a good reason in this case.

Take the Bolton League and Association as examples.

The Association is the second oldest league in the world, the League was a spin-off in the early 20th century when the top clubs broke away.

The two have lived together successfully ever since and thousands of people have benefited from superb organisations who are well placed to provide organised cricket for open age and junior sides probably for another 100 years.

One of the men most steeped in the Bolton League, Peter Stafford, died only a few weeks ago.

I don’t know but I’ve a pretty good idea what Peter’s views would have been about this.

He was a traditionalist when it came to the sport, a man who though Twenty20 was akin to cabaret cricket.

Peter wrote brilliant pieces on local cricket for this newspaper, and views of people like him need to be listened to. I think he would have been abhorred by this idea, as I know some other people equally steeped in Bolton local cricket are.

It doesn’t mean they are right of course.

My view is this proposed league is on the right lines as long as it is done properly.

But it must be guaranteed to work and the vast majority, if not all, clubs must commit to it.

The reason the likes of the Bolton Association and Bolton League have tradition is because they work.

I hope the GM League would work as well.

But I have my doubts.