THE Lancashire League have confirmed that five new clubs will join the competition for next season taking the tally up to 22 sides, while league chiefs will also begin talks with the Ribblesdale League about that competition creating a feeder division.

The Lancashire League has expanded to 17 clubs for the 2017 campaign with Clitheroe, Great Harwood and Darwen all joining, and that number will swell once Pennine League quintet Norden, Walsden, Littleborough, Rochdale and Middleton move across for 2018.

The Lancashire League still want to bring in two more clubs to take it up to the maximum of 24 allowed, while absorbing the Ribblesdale League – a move backed by the Lancashire Cricket Board - would see a new structure created in the area, although that will not happen until 2019 at the earliest.

Lancashire League chairman Mike Bibby said in a statement: “In season 2018 the league will commence talks with the Ribblesdale Cricket League to review the possibility of them forming the feeder league to the Lancashire League.”

The arrival of the five newcomers for 2018 will see the league start as a single division with clubs playing each other once before the top half of that year’s table forms a new first division for 2019, with the bottom half becoming a second tier.

Bibby added: “The additional eight new clubs to our original 14 members will leave us two short of our target and it is hoped to fill these two vacancies in the future.

“The addition of the five Pennine League clubs will strengthen the league even more and make the league more competitive for the future.

“This will bring the membership to just two short of the maximum of 24 clubs and will enable us to start the 2019 season with two divisions with promotion and relegation.”