THE Bolton and District Cricket Association are waiting for answers from the Lancashire Cricket Board over the cause of their demise.

Association chiefs met the LCB's managing director Bobby Denning and chairman Bob Hinchliffe to ask why the local cricket league did not receive more help from the county's governing body to survive.

The Association – the oldest league in Lancashire – chose to enter into a period of suspension rather than fold after losing all their clubs to the newly-formed Greater Manchester Cricket League and the expanding Bolton Cricket League.

They requested a meeting with the LCB last November to discuss the reasons behind their demise.

Mr Denning agreed to the meeting last month and he and Mr Hinchliffe met Association executive committee members Frank Jackson, John Charlson and Nick Chamberlain on February 24.

The Association asked the LCB for clarification on rules regarding the maximum number of clubs allowed to leave a league at any one time.

The Association delegation also told the LCB they believed there was insufficient consultation with leagues and clubs throughout the formation of the Greater Manchester League, which they point to as the reason for the demise of the Association.

They also expressed their belief that the potential formation of a multi-division structure being proposed and discussed in the Lancashire area is being handled differently by the LCB to how it handled the situation in Greater Manchester, and have requested the reasons why.

The Association’s case has been taken up by Lord Hoyle who has written to the England and Wales Cricket Board about the circumstances surrounding the demise of the Association.

Lord Hoyle, who is president of long-established Association club Adlington, wrote from the House of Lords to ECB chairman Colin Graves stating his concerns.

Lord Hoyle has received a reply but continues to have concerns and has expressed them again in a second letter to the ECB.