Executive and Finance secretary Trevor Atkinson reported a third successive £600-plus gate at the event (both Romida Sykes Cup semi-finals produced similar returns).
And, given a decent day for the final at Honley on Sunday, August 10, when Delph & Dobcross go in search of a second trophy when they tackle Barkisland, it’s almost certain that 2008 will be a record year for receipts.
Already the League have banked £1,938 for those three games, as opposed to £761 last year and £700 the year before!
Two competitive and closely-matched semi-finals helped, while the Twenty/20 is proving very popular among spectators, particularly considering the venue at Delph this year was quite a trek for the neutrals (with escalating fuel costs).
The event has certainly caught the imagination of the public, far more so than the old Examiner Eights, and the re-vamped League structure in the early rounds this year has also won approval from the majority of teams, although one or two expressed an opinion that playing the round-robin and quarter-finals games on a Tuesday tended to interfere with their main practice night!
That aside, however, the tournament does seem to be growing in popularity and it was good to see an increasing number of teams wearing coloured clothing, which after all was the intention when the change to a Twenty/20 was first mooted.
Both finalists looked resplendent in their ‘pyjama kit,’ Honley in black with white flashes, and Delph & Dobcross in blue with yellow inserts. The use of orange balls and black stumps also worked.
One rule that needs discussing before next season is the method in which the semi-final and final venues are decided.
This season it was based on the criteria of the highest number of runs scored in the quarter-final and semi-final ties.
Obviously teams batting second and finding themselves chasing a small total were disadvantaged, which is one area which needs addressing.
