Veterans League:
The Veterans League Management Committee has a monthly virtual meeting scheduled for Monday 15 February when they have an agenda item to discuss the start date and format of the 2021 League fixtures programme.
Over the past week it has become increasingly obvious that no firm decisions can be taken on either of these matters until the Government releases their Road Map later this month. What is the haste anyhow? It may delay the printing of the Yearbook but better that than printing it with a useless set of fixtures contained within it.
Should we be starting bowling on the very first day that we are allowed or might we want to take stock of how many teams can check with their bowlers before confirming their involvement in the season? All the surveys undertaken to date, including our own, give no indication that all the registered bowlers will be available for selection whenever the season starts, quite the opposite in fact.
The findings already coming out of the bowler's survey about the resumption of bowling isn't expecting the season to start on time anyhow. If all the bowlers can see that then there is no shame in delaying the production of the fixture programme.
The League has already released different sets of fixtures (at least) twice on Bowlsnet, a third time would show a lack of understanding of the present situation. I am sure that they will do the right thing by holding back on this front until after 22 February when the Road Map is promised. No other local League has produced any fixtures on Bowlsnet yet as we all await clearer definitions of the next steps and likely timescales.