Philip Haines sheds some light on the club cricket scene in South East Wales with a close look at one of the region's most popular competitions.

The South Wales Cricket League was founded in 1999 from the former Western League, Alliance, Three Counties League and Glamorgan and Gwent Conference. It covers an area from Chepstow in the east to Tondu and Bridgend in the west to Barry in the south and the Heads of the Valleys area to the north.

The league is an ECB accredited premier league which offers it national status, and its playing conditions and standards conform to national ECB levels.

The progression in standard of play and facilities has been marked throughout the relatively short history of the league with the premier division having been won by Abergavenny, Newport, Pentyrch and Sudbrook.

A number of Glamorgan and other former professional players have graced the league including players like Matthew Maynard, Mike Powell, Mark Wallace, Ian Thomas, Keith Newell, Dean Cosker. Perhaps the most successful is the former Yorkshire, Sussex, Somerset and England bowler Paul Jarvis (left), the current talisman at Sudbrook where he leads the coaching and playing side of the club.

The long-term aim of the league is to effect a merger with the South Wales Cricket Association, with support of the Wales Cricket Board, to provide a full South Wales Premier Division.

In addition to the main Saturday competition the league is also involved with a midweek knock-out cup, which is played in the two zones of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, and junior competitions which are run in parallel.