Cricket comes to the Fylde coast: Blackpool, Fleetwood, Lytham and St Annes all take part in competition starting next weekend

Teams from the Northern Premier League and Moore and Smalley Palace Shield will compete in localised round-robin leagues over the next two months.

The 40-over competition brings together all of the Fylde coast's elite clubs in one group as Lytham will face Northern League trio Blackpool, Fleetwood and St Annes. Also contesting group A are Thornton Cleveleys of the Palace Shield.

Tournaments will take place at four different levels, with four localised groups at each level. The initial group fixtures will be played over five Saturdays, ending August 15.

Mex Saturday's opening fixtures in Group A are Blackpool v St Annes and Thornton Cleveleys v Fleetwood.

The other groupings at the top level are as follows:

Group B: Fulwood, Garstang, Great Eccleston, Kirkham and Wesham, Longridge and Preston.

Group C: Chorley, Eccleston, Euxton, Leyland, Penwortham and Vernon Carus

Group D: Kendal, Lancaster, Morecambe and Netherfield.

Depending on their finishing positions, teams will then be divided into three new groups to play a further three matches each. The top two in each group can then contest semi-finals and finals, with the competition to conclude on September 19.

The other Group A fixtures are:

July 25: Fleetwood v Blackpool, Lytham v Thornton Cleveleys

August 1: Blackpool v Lytham, St Annes v Fleetwood

August 8: Lytham v St Annes, Thornton Cleveleys v Blackpool

August 15: St Annes v Thornton Cleveleys, Fleetwood v Lytham

As there are five teams in this group, one goes without a game each Saturday.

Blackpool had previously suggested they may need to play all fixtures away due to drainage work at Stanley Park. However, the club has confirmed that work will only be carried out after their scheduled home matches.

Liverpool Competition club Lytham requested to take part because of the travel issues involved in entering the similar competition organised by their league.

Before Lytham came on board, it was proposed that Fylde CC and South Shore would also enter the elite Fylde coast group. Instead those clubs will contest the level two group alongside the second XIs of Fleetwood, Lytham, St Annes and Great Eccleston.

The matches must take place under strict ECB guidelines, which means social-distancing will be observed on the field. Batsmen must run in specified running lanes to maintain their distance from the bowler and their fellow batter.

Blackpool CC chairman David Cresswell is looking forward to a competition many felt would never materialise this summer.

He told The Gazette: "Everyone has signed up for it and we are getting the pitch ready to play St Annes next Saturday.

"It's good that we are getting some cricket played this year and it's particularly important for the younger players to keep them engaged."