With the Drakes League considering whether to adopt a new points system, there was interesting news from the arrowselfdrive Huddersfield Central League last night.

They have been using a new system this season modelled strongly on the Bradford League format – and clubs have given it a massive ‘thumbs-up’.

Basically, the winning team gets 10 points and both teams get bonus points.

In batting, there is a point for reaching 125 and then four more points for each 25 runs scored after that up to 225.

When bowling, a team earns a bonus point each time they take two wickets, making for the same total of five available in each innings.

A few concerns were introduced when the system was mooted, but these seem to have been overcome.

Some suggested the different size of grounds would have an impact, but that doesn’t seem to have materialised.

Others suggested teams would always bat first to ensure they had chance to get the maximum 20 points, but that hasn’t happened either as captains have assessed the conditions and made the correct call accordingly on winning the toss.

The background to that was that some feared if you bowled first and skittled the opposition for 118, you had no chance of getting to 125 for a batting bonus point.

One difference between the Central League’s version and the Bradford League’s is that if a team declares, in Huddersfield they are considered to be all out whereas in Bradford they are not.

All in all, though, the reason for altering any points system must be to encourage attractive, attacking cricket – and that’s why the Drakes League have put so much time and effort into looking at various options.

It is still firmly on the Drakes League agenda moving forward, but in the Central League even those who were against the switch in the first place are now wholeheartedly in support.

There are a couple of things they are still considering tweaking in the Central system.

Firstly they may increasing the number of points for an abandonment. At the moment it’s three each.

And secondly, any concession of a game results in a 20-0 award, which some have suggested is too big an advantage to the side who could have played.