Rod Lyall 10/06/21
Days after announcing that it was moving to satisfy the desire of the Topklasse and Women’s Hoofdklasse clubs to arrange for matches which were abandoned in the course of May to be replayed over the next three weeks, the KNCB Board has returned to the original plan for no replays.
It is understood that several clubs, having originally argued for replays, reversed their position once the new schedule had been published, on the grounds of problems with player availability for three consecutive weekends and the need for players to be free to coach youth teams.
The KNCB youth competitions got under way last week after a relaxation in government restrictions relating to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The previous consultation had been a response by the Board to criticism of the new points system, under which teams receive four points for a win, two for a tie, but only one for an abandoned match.
With three Topklasse clubs having lost three games to the extreme May weather there was some feeling that they had been unduly disadvantaged, but the practical difficulties associated with organizing the replays seem now to have outweighed those concerns.
The Board, having taken new representations from the clubs into account, has now rescinded the decision to organise replays.
The competition playing conditions as originally published, including the new points system and no provision for replaying abandoned matches, will now apply, and there will be an evaluation and review of the system at the end of the season.
TKcricket 