Highland return to top cricket league after four years out
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The start of the 2023 North of Scotland cricket season is fast approaching, and it has been confirmed that 2019 champions Highland will be returning to the Senior League for the first time in four years.
Highland were the last champions before the pandemic, which forced the cancellation of all competitive matches in 2020.
It also had the knock-on effect of many players leaving the area, or leaving the sport, which saw Highland take a step back and compete solely in the Reserve League for the last two years – topping the table last summer.
That has given them the confidence to return to the Senior League fold, where they will join the existing six teams in the division including Inverness-based Northern Counties and Nairn County.
There are more reasons for Nosca clubs to be looking forward to the new season too.
Five teams in the association have entered the Scotland-wide Challenge Cup, following Northern Counties being the sole representatives this year.
The Reserve League has also been rebranded as the Development League to emphasise the competition’s aim of bringing young or new players into the game.
All in all, new Nosca president Chris Blake believes cricket is heading in the right direction again – and he has more plans for the future to maintain that progress.
“I think we’re in a good place,” he said.
“After Covid things were difficult for a while, but player availability seems to be up and clubs seem to be in a better place than they had been. There’s still work to do though, and next on my list is umpire availability because we really struggle.
“We’re also going to try and squeeze some funding out of Cricket Scotland to get more boots on the ground up here. That comes down to investment and budgetary choices, but we’re in a good place and we’re raring to go.”
