ILKLEY want the Birtwhistle Cup to revert to its original format of 45 overs per innings.

For the past two seasons the Aire-Wharfe League’s second-team knockout competition has been a T20, but league secretary Matthew Grimes told the league’s council meeting at Otley Rugby Union Football Club on Tuesday: “We feel that the Birtwhistle Cup has had some of the shine taken off it since.”

Ilkley’s proposal, seconded by Olicanian, is that all club’s first XIs shall compete in the Ernest Waddilove Cup and all club’s second teams shall compete in the Anthony Birtwhistle Cup, but that clubs may opt out of the latter competition before October 31 the previous year.

They also propose that all third teams be entered into the Ian Chappell Cup, that all Waddilove and Birtwhistle ties start no later than 1.30pm and that early-round Chappell Cup ties begin no later than 2pm, with the semi-finals starting no later than 1pm, and all of the cup finals beginning at 1pm.

If this proposal goes through at the league’s annual meeting at Otley RUFC on Thursday, November 26 it would mean the end of the Awards Galore Cup – a T20 competition for the lower-ranked first teams – and the end of any T20 competition in the league.

The league’s management committee want all league matches to start at noon, which was seconded by Tong Park Esholt.

This would be an hour earlier than the normal start time and 30 minutes in front of when matches begin in September.

However, the number of players and officials doing Saturday morning jobs could be a sticking point as could the potential loss of bar revenue, while Rawdon want third-team matches to begin at 2pm rather than 2.30pm.

The management committee also want matches in divisions One to Three to be 50 overs per side and matches in divisions Four to Six to be 45 overs per side, with no transfer of overs between innings.

Ben Rhydding seconded this proposal and also those of the management committee that a substitute be allowed to represent a player who is more than 90 minutes late after the start of the match (including the player themselves) and that a second-team player can be switched to their first-team match providing that second-team match has not started and be replaced by a registered player.

Rawdon have proposed that bowlers be restricted to a maximum of 10 overs per innings in divisions Four to Six, while Calverley want fielding circles to be mandatory in those divisions, getting away from skippers ringing the boundary with nine men.

Grimes reminded the meeting on several occasions of the senior status of the Aire-Wharfe League and explained that that was why several rule proposal changes had been put forward by them, such as docking a club’s first and second teams five points if annual subscriptions are not paid by March 4 (they are due on February 28) and a two-point deduction for a club’s first and second teams if fines are not paid within 14 days of them being notified.

More contentious was the management committee’s proposal that clubs be docked five points for the following season if they fail to attend council meetings without a reasonable excuse.

Some clubs felt that docking points for administrative errors was unfair, while Grimes said: “We want clubs to contribute to the league and take part in discussions” and that it was not unreasonable to take that attitude when clubs had up to 50 members who could attend meetings.

Another reason for docking clubs five points – in this case the home team - was that both a heavy and a light roller should be available for use in matches, which did not prove contentious.

Rawdon proposed that no division should have more than 10 clubs, but that provoked a lively discussion.

That would mean 18 league matches and the possibility of playing the first and second rounds of cup competitions on a Saturday, meaning a minimum of 19 matches on Saturdays and less Sunday fixtures.

But possible points against were the loss of revenue from playing less matches and the fact that players have been leaving the Aire-Wharfe League to go to the Bradford League to play more matches in a season.

Ilkley also proposed the introduction of Duckworth Lewis Stern (DLS) for rain-affected matches, while the management committee want live scoring to be mandatory for divisions One to Four and away teams to not be liable to pay for teas if a game is called off within an hour of the scheduled start.

The management committee also want a no ball to result in a free hit in divisions One to Three and to put an end to tactical appeals on disciplinary matters by suspending a player until his or her appeal hearing has concluded, with the sentence if awarded taking into account any time served.

The meeting also decided, by a large majority, that the Lords International Ball be removed from the list of approved balls.