By RICHARD TILLEY OXFORDSHIRE could soon be playing three-day matches in cricket's Minor Counties Championship.

Plans are afoot to introduce the longer version of the game in 2001, when the current competition structure could also be scrapped.

At present, the Championship is divided along geographical lines into Eastern and Western divisions (Oxon are in the latter), with each team playing nine two-day matches per season.

But the Minor Counties Cricket Association are considering creating a new national league featuring promotion and relegation between two divisions and a combination of two and three-day games.

"We are looking at probably just a couple of three-dayers to start with," said John Pickup, the chairman of the MCCA.

"But we just don't know yet how it is all going to work. We have to know how three-day cricket and the new divisions are going to affect each other and combine." Pickup said he was unsure whether the counties would embrace the proposals, and admitted that there were a number of sticking points.

"In theory, they are great ideas, but there are possible problems. There's people getting time off for a start, and also the problem of Cornwall ending up in the same division as Northumberland.

"Nothing will be done until our working party has consulted the counties. I would see us voting on it next October."

Simon Porter, the chairman of the Oxfordshire Cricket Board, said he had mixed feelings about the planned changes - and also about the MCCA's decision to abandon their experiment with one-innings-a-side Grade games. "The OCB are a bit disappointed that for next season we are going back to the status quo of nine two-day games," Porter said. "But at least the MCCA are looking at other formats.

"Three-day cricket is intriguing, despite the practical difficulties. However, we're not sure about two divisions. It would lead to the sides who are paying players at the moment just paying out even more. "You could get a situation where teams are struggling halfway through a season and just get the chequebook out. But it would make games more meaningful."

Story date: Saturday 27 November

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.