MONMOUTH 2nd may yet compete in Division 2 of the Flint & Cook Marches Cricket League after a change of heart by the league's executive committee.

Originally it had been decided that new applicants Hereford would be placed in Division 2 and this would deny promotion for Monmouth 2nd, who were runners-up in Division 3 last season.

But Monmouth appealed against the decision, which had been based on the league's rule 4.15: "The management committee shall have the power to determine the division in which to place teams joining the league."

The strict definition of the league's management committee, according to the constitution, is that 'the management committee shall consist of the elected officers of the league plus one appointed representative from each full member club, all of whom shall have voting power'.

So now the executive committee have called a full meeting of the management committee with the recommendation that Monmouth 2nd are promoted to Division 2 and that Hereford City shall enter Division 3.

"We are doing this to ensure complete transparency in the decision-making process and to show that it's not just a 'cabal' of a few clubs taking the decisions," said league secretary Derrick Jones.

The Marches league management committee will meet on Monday, February 23 at the Imperial Hotel in Hereford and the importance of the meeting is viewed as sufficiently high for a warning that any club not represented will be docked points at the start of the 2004 season.