22-03-2015, 11:35 PM
George, I can't disagree with your concerns re forfeiting. The case you refer to is not the only instance this year.
As far as team sizes go I would say that following last season I asked team captains about reducing board numbers and not one of the respondents was in favour of less than 8 for the Richardson. As for the Spens I arbitrarily reduced the board numbers to 5 (as I am entitled to do and which I did for what I considered sensible reasons) but received some criticism for (delivered privately).
Given the history of the two events it would be a shame to lose one by merging, so what to do? A league/group format was suggested last year but one argument lodged against it was that it would be too similar to an existing event - SNCL.
Having said that, I agree with you that to reach a final having played only one match isn't ideal and one match isn't value for the entry fee - especially if eliminated early.
Therefore, any contributions towards a better way would be welcome. I will, in any case, be in touch with the team captains about potential changes for next season.
As far as team sizes go I would say that following last season I asked team captains about reducing board numbers and not one of the respondents was in favour of less than 8 for the Richardson. As for the Spens I arbitrarily reduced the board numbers to 5 (as I am entitled to do and which I did for what I considered sensible reasons) but received some criticism for (delivered privately).
Given the history of the two events it would be a shame to lose one by merging, so what to do? A league/group format was suggested last year but one argument lodged against it was that it would be too similar to an existing event - SNCL.
Having said that, I agree with you that to reach a final having played only one match isn't ideal and one match isn't value for the entry fee - especially if eliminated early.
Therefore, any contributions towards a better way would be welcome. I will, in any case, be in touch with the team captains about potential changes for next season.