We now know what the format of the August Cup Play-Offs will be.
Should we get there, there will be matches on Saturday 5th and Saturday 12th September. This is all pretty informal. There are no trophies or awards, it is just some extra competitive (and hopefully fun) cricket as a reward for successful teams.
A reminder, the First XI are in group A3, the Second XI are in group B8 and the Third XI in group C8.
Groups A1 and A2
5th September - The winner of group A1 will host the runner up of group A2 and the winner of group A2 will host the runner up of A1.
12th September - The winners of the above matches will play in a final at a neutral venue to be confirmed.
Groups A3 and A4
5th September - The winner of group A3 will host the runner up of group A4 and the winner of group A4 will host the runner up of A3.
12th September - The winners of the above matches will play in a final at a neutral venue to be confirmed.
Groups A5 to A8
5th September - The winner of group A5 will play the winner of group A6 and the winner of group A7 will play the winner of group A8. In each case, the team with the better group record (points then net run rate) will have first option to host.
12th September - The winners of the above matches will play in a final at a neutral venue to be confirmed.
The idea in the A Groups is that we end up with three nominal 'champions' at the three different levels, which roughly equate to the Premier, Division 2 and Division 3/4.
B Groups
5th September - The twelve group winners will be paired into six matches by the SCL Cup organising committee, on the basis of location and ability. The team with the better group record will have first option to host each match. The pairings will be advised by Monday 31st August, following the last round of group matches.
12th September - The six winners of the above matches will be paired by the SCL organising committee based on what would likely produce the best games of cricket and three finals will take place at neutral venues. Again, we'll end up with three nominal 'champions'.
C Groups
5th September - The twenty two group winners will be paired into eleven matches by the SCL Cup organising committee, on the basis of location and ability. The team with the better group record will again have first option to host each match. The pairings will be advised by Monday 31st August, following the last round of group matches.
In the C groups, the SCL felt that location and ability discrepancies would probably get too wide if they tried to arrange a further round of matches on 12th September, therefore they will stick to just the one extra round.