BOLTON Cricket League officials will meet tomorrow night knowing they have enough teams to form an expanded league next season.

The number of clubs from the Bolton Association applying to join them rose to nine by Saturday, bringing the total they could have in the league to at least 20.

Eleven of the current 14 Bolton League clubs have rejected the possibility of joining the rival Greater Manchester League and committed themselves to the new Bolton structure.

If all nine who have applied are accepted it gives the Bolton League officials a number which is considered to be comfortably workable.

Ideally they would want at least another four clubs to join. They have set a deadline for applications of tomorrow night although in some cases clubs could still join after.

The clubs who have applied to join the Bolton league are Adlington, Atherton, Blackrod, Daisy Hill, Darcy Lever, Golborne, Little Hulton, Lostock and Standish.

The Bolton League clubs who have committed themselves to staying are Astley Bridge, Bradshaw, Farnworth, Farnworth Social Circle, Heaton, Horwich, Kearsley Little Lever, Tonge, Walkden and Westhoughton.

The nine Association clubs are seen as clubs with strong foundations, with between three and five junior teams and at least two – in some cases three – senior teams.

All have long established histories of playing in Bolton league cricket.

The locations of the 20 clubs give a compact geographical element to the league which is seen as beneficial to clubs, particularly their junior sections.

Fourteen are situated within the borders of Bolton with four more – Adlington, Atherton, Little Hulton and Walkden – close to the edges of the boundaries. At the moment only Standish and Golborne would require reasonably lengthy travel distances but that is not regarded as detrimental to their inclusion.

A number of further clubs are considering the Bolton model as an option, although one is not Westleigh who joined the Association this year and applied to join the Greater Manchester League on Saturday.

Their decision is seen as the correct one all round. The club say they are not in a position to pay the money necessary to field the standard of professional player that is required by the Bolton League while many in the BCL had concerns about Westleigh's playing standards.

Edgworth, Radcliffe, Flixton and a club in another league – four clubs who would appeal to the Bolton League – are considering their options but are unlikely to make a decision before tomorrow.

Should they make a decision to join either the Bolton League or the Greater Manchester League between tomorrow night and June 30 – the deadline set for clubs in all leagues to resign – it is understood they will be accepted.

There are also four clubs from three leagues outside the Greater Manchester area who have enquired about the Bolton model but are not in a position to join before 2017 should they decide to do so.