Greg Finn has left Elland to join top Bradford League side Woodlands.
The talented wicketkeeper-batsman was captain at Hullen Edge in the Drakes Huddersfield League Premiership last season – when they finished fourth from bottom – but has decided to move on.
Woodlands finished as runners-up to Cleckheaton in the JCT600 Division One (top flight) last season and Finn will be replacing Usman Salim behind the sticks.
Salim has had the gloves for the last six years and has three times won the league’s F Milton Watmough Wicketkeeping Trophy, but he’s keen to have more of a bat and has joined newly-promoted Undercliffe for 2015.
Finn – who took five catches in a match against Skelmanthorpe this summer to claim the best individual performance by a keeper in the top division – hit 418 runs at an average of 22 last summer and had 31 victims (three stumped and 28 caught). The previous season, he had more than 800 runs.
Meanwhile, clubs have voted through new bowling qualifications for league prizes, because teams in the Jedi Sports Championship and Cedar Court Conference play 15% fewer matches than those in the Drakes Premiership.
To qualify for the league prize, a first XI bowler must take 40 wickets in the top flight or 35 in either the Championship or Conference.
In Premiership Two, for second XIs, the qualification is 30 wickets, with 25 in each of the other two divisions.
Also on the subject of league prizes, in catching or wicketkeeping, if there is a tie then the player who has played fewest games will be the winner. The award will be shared only if they’ve played the same number of matches and taken the same number of victims.
Non-EU players can’t win league awards, other than the Non-EU Player of the Year award (which this year went to Hoylandswaine’s Michael Cranmer).
Players moving club during next season will have their stats aggregated by their most recent club, to prevent someone winning a prize in one division having played significantly more cricket in another.
Next season, clubs will be fined £10 for each week they leave a match unreported, while for a postponed match, teams must have seven players present and list them to qualify for two points.
