THE West of England Premier League and Somerset Cricket League are among those to have taken part in a video meeting to discuss plans for the 2020 season.

It was concluded that there would be "no promotion or relegation within, into, or out of the leagues", based on fixtures played this year.

The recreational cricket competitions were due to begin at the start of May but, in light of the coronavirus lockdown, it is likely that the 2020 season will be truncated or wiped out entirely.

The five leagues in the West of England cricket pyramid - also involving the Bristol & District League, Gloucestershire County League and Wiltshire League - reached agreement on the following points:

"The health and wellbeing of our communities is far more important than games of cricket, and this will be the guiding principle throughout any decisions made regarding the 2020 season.

"Recreational cricket will not be able to resume until the government and the ECB have given the approval for it to do so.

"All leagues are focused on providing their clubs with the opportunity to play meaningful and competitive cricket matches if and when the opportunity arises; leagues are prepared to be creative to make best use of any windows of opportunity available to play the game, noting that there will be restrictions such as ground availability and ground sharing issues to be considered.

"Fair notice will need to be given to clubs as to when a resumption of cricket will occur.

"No penalties will be incurred by clubs who are unable to use their facilities due to no fault of their own or for clubs unable to field teams due to ongoing Covid-19 concerns."

The statement added: "The Courage West of England Premier League, the Bristol & District Cricket League, the Gloucestershire County Cricket League and the Monmouth Scientific Somerset Cricket League have decided that there will be no promotion or relegation within, into, or out of their leagues based on any fixtures played in 2020."