Masterton Trophy cricket competition revamped for 2018

The Masterton Trophy Twenty20 cricket event has once again been revamped for this year.

Captain Ewan Chalmers led Watsonians to Masterton Trophy glory last year

Following feedback from last year’s event and a reduction in the number of teams participating in 2018, a new format has been agreed by the committee.

This year’s tournament will begin on May 1 and feature a nine-team round robin league with teams playing each other once.

All rained off games are to be replayed, with captains working out the best dates for the replay to take place.

When all league fixtures are complete, the winner of the league will progress to the Murgitroyd national finals day.

However, there will be more matches to determine the Masterton Trophy winners.

The top four from the round-robin will play in semi-finals with the victors of those two matches progressing to the final. The semi-finals and final will take place towards the end of July. The nine teams involved this year will be Edinburgh Accies, Carlton, Edinburgh, holders Watsonians, Musselburgh, Grange, RHC, Heriot’s and Stewart’s Melville.

In the first round of fixtures in early May, the pick of the ties looks likely to be RHC against last year’s finalists Heriot’s.