WHATEVER the outcome of the Lancashire Knock-Out final at Middleton a week on Sunday, the Bolton League's position in the overall standings cannot be affected.

The competition began in 1972, and since then the Northern League have 19 final wins, thanks mainly to Blackpool and Lancaster with eight and five respectively.

The Bolton League are in second place with 11 final wins, shared more evenly around the clubs, and in third place are the Liverpool Competition with 10, Bootle having seven of these including four in succession between 2004 and 2007.

In terms of reaching the final, the Northern League are leading with 28, the most recent in 2006, with nine apiece for Blackpool and Lancaster, the Bolton League second with 23 and the Liverpool Competition 18, Bootle making up exactly half this total.

There will be another match taking place on September 11. Due to Lostock's new ground not being available this season they have been playing first-team matches away and second-team matches at the ground of the club without a fixture.

Unfortunately Horwich is not available this Saturday, so Bradshaw will be at home to Lostock's second team on that day in what could be the championship decider, as Bradshaw are in contention, along with Horwich and Westhoughton.

On Tuesday, October 4 I will be representing the Bolton Cricket League at Lords, having been nominated for the Outstanding Services to Cricket Award. This year the award has been based on leagues' policies on getting the maximum number of matches possible played.

The England Cricket Board's "Get the Game On" initiative has been running for a few years now. The Bolton League had already been one of the first to reduce the run target when rain reduces the number of overs available, but there have been more recent innovations based on suggestions made by the ECB. In the T20 competition the number of overs can be reduced if both captains agree, when rain is forecast later in the evening and in the 40-over competition there will be a result provided 10 overs are completed in the second innings. In league matches a result can now be obtained if fewer than the previous minimum of 25 overs remain, and if the outfield is wet the boundaries can be brought inside the 30-yard fielding circle, within reason.

As all our grounds are in reasonably close proximity, we have no reason to call a match off on the morning of a game, to stop teams from travelling, and running the risk that the ground could be fit by mid-afternoon. Clubs are not allowed to call matches off in advance because there is a poor weather forecast. Enough matches have been lost this year when it has actually rained. Many more would have been if the forecasts had not been ignored.

Aside from the weather the Bolton League have introduced other measures to ensure matches are played. In the late 1990s clubs began to default on second-team games, and a rule was brought in to penalise first teams if this happens.

Occasional matches are still missed, but not to the same extent. The league are more lenient with junior cricket, but after allowing clubs to miss a limited number of games penalties are imposed, as continuity is very important.

Once a club stops running junior teams it becomes very difficult to recruit new players and this eventually impacts on senior cricket. The league have successfully reverted to fixed dates for junior matches, as this leads to improved discipline and less uncertainty.

Hopefully next season there will be more fixtures at certain key age groups.