THE All Rounder Bradford Premier League's management board have come up with a solution to an anomaly that has existed since batting and bowling bonus points were introduced to the league in 2006.

For a decade, teams have been penalised in terms of points gained if they dismissed a side for under 125 bowling first, therefore denying themselves the opportunity to gain any batting bonus points.

Now, under a proposed change at the league's rules revision meeting at Cleckheaton Sports Club, clubs batting second can still gain 20 points if they dismiss their opponents for 124 or less but lose less than two wickets in reaching their target.

If a side batting second won by only losing two or three wickets chasing a score of 124 or less, they would gain 19 points to their opponents' one, while losing four or five wickets would make the the margin 18-2 etc.

Bradford Premier League chairman David Young said: "I make no apologies, this has been taken from the Aire-Wharfe League, where it has been seen to work."

Coupled with this proposed rule change was that the away team can decide whether to bat or bowl first.

Young said: "This is to stop home sides preparing green wickets for their own bowlers."

However, some representatives thought that these two issues should be treated separately.

Other rule change proposals that sparked debate were a year's trial of reducing Championship matches to a maximum of 90 overs and Conference matches to a maximum of 80, while leaving Premier League matches at 100 overs maximum, all at second-team level.

Young said that there was a clear majority of Bradford League players in favour of these reductions (about 75 per cent of the 200 players that had filled in the annual ECB players' survey).

However, Bradford & Bingley representative David Markham thought that the reductions represented a dumbing down of the league.

Other proposals were to bring in the Duckworth-Lewis system for rain-affected matches and adding leg-side wides for first-team league matches.

Pudsey Congs representative Ralph Middlebrook said: "We (Congs) are not in favour of this (Duckworth-Lewis) in league matches but we agree that Duckworth-Lewis should apply in cup matches where a result is needed on the day.

"Leg-side wides are for cup cricket and we are in danger of making league matches too much like cup matches."

The Bradford Premier League are determined to make clubs fulfil their fixtures. They are proposing that the guilty club's first and second teams be penalised 20 points each and fined £50 per offence.

They must also pay any costs incurred by their opponents, who will automatically receive 17 points (the average total for a win).

But Hanging Heaton representative Andrew Hunt said: "The opposition should receive 20 points as they might be going for the title or promotion and be playing a side near the bottom."

Other proposed rule changes are reducing the number of club representatives on the management board from five to four (making it one representative per division), that first-team matches shall be played where possible towards the centre of the square and that matches can be cancelled up to three hours before the scheduled start time providing that both clubs agree.

Young explained that clubs should discuss all of the proposed rule changes at committee level before voting electronically on each between Tuesday, November 1 and Tuesday, November 22.

The annual meeting is at Cleckheaton Sports Club on Thursday, November 24 (7.45pm).