EARLIER this year the Lancashire League, largely comprising clubs around the towns of Burnley and Blackburn, announced they were expanding from one division of 14 clubs to two divisions of 12.

Last week it was announced that one club had applied and 22 others from the Northern League, Ribblesdale League, Central Lancashire League and the Palace Shield had expressed an interest in joining.

Established 123 years ago, and with a list of past professionals that reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of test cricket, the Lancashire League could be a very attractive proposition.

It is widely anticipated that most of the 10 new clubs, assuming there are sufficient applications from clubs of the required standard, will come from the Northern League clubs based in the centre of Lancashire and heading to the Fylde Coast, or the Ribblesdale clubs, who like the Lancashire League clubs are centred on Blackburn and Burnley.

A few clubs have already held meetings to discuss a change of leagues, but will not necessarily have made a final decision.

More should be known later this week, as clubs are required to give two weeks notice to their present league if they are considering applying to another, and the deadline for applications is the end of this month.

The actual selection of clubs could be quite interesting. Will the Lancashire League clubs opt to accept clubs in the vicinity, with less travelling and more local derbies, or take the trip along the M65 and M55 motorways to play on grounds that are generally of a superior standard?

The question of interest to local cricket supporters is where will the clubs that are not accepted play?

There are still three vacancies in the Bolton League.

Progress was made at last week’s meeting of the 21 Bolton League and Bolton Association clubs. There will be an enhanced t20 competition in 2016, with matches played on a regional group basis at first leading to the knockout stages. Representatives have been asked to discuss with their players and club members if the preference is to play on midweek evenings or Sundays. In the Lancashire and Northern Leagues the t20 has taken over the from traditional cup competition in terms of popularity.

Discipline has been a problem in the Bolton League since as long ago as the mid-70s, often admittedly with less serious incidents, so next season a slightly modified version of the Bolton Association rules will be used.

This gives automatic one or two match bans without referral to the disciplinary committee for a number of minor offences, including equipment abuse, dissent and abuse of fellow players, including comments on social media. Hopefully this will solve many of the recurring problems, but will require consistency of reporting from the umpires to be effective.

Another longstanding problem with the Bolton League is the comparatively poor standard of pitches and facilities when compared with other leagues in the county of a similar status.

This is something that will take longer to rectify but is another area where the Association and League will be working together and for the first time pitch and facility inspections will take place after the season ends.

Since the early 1960s when the leagues played for the Rothman Cup, the Bolton League have played an active part in inter-league cricket, dominating the eight-league Lancashire Knockout in recent years.

However, next season we will be looking to play the t20 or a 40-over competition on a Sunday.

This coupled with a declining interest from players and spectators in inter-league cricket had led to us withdrawing from the Reader Lancashire Inter-League Knockout for the foreseeable future.

There may be occasional matches against other leagues, but on a less formal basis. Junior inter-league cricket will continue, and hopefully we can remain in the Under'18s knockout even though we are withdrawing from the senior competition.

Following on from Neil Bonnar’s article last week about the name of the league and the two divisions, clubs and supporters have been asked to put forward suggestions before the 21st September, and a vote will be taken on these by the clubs at the meeting on September 28.