THE Hampshire Cricket League, the largest weekend recreational competition of its type in the country, is facing the prospect of starting the new season in 12 weeks time without a chairman at the helm.

Despite exhaustive efforts, they have been unable to find a successor to Ian Millington, who announced some while ago that he would not carry on for a fourth year.

Remarkably the HCL, which boasts a staggering 343 teams spread across 20 divisions, has had only seven chairmen since the late Noel Fisher helped form the league in 1973.

But no one has stepped forward to replace Millington, pictured, who succeeded Jonathan Blake as chairman in 2013.

In the short term, the absence of a chairman may not have a significant impact.

The fixtures for the new season, which begins on May 7, were published before Christmas and a ten-strong management committee is in place.

But the situation cannot be allowed to continue, with 81-year old veteran vice-chairman Tony Brown stressing he has no wish to take on the role.

Persons interested should contact HCL secretary Anne Craft at hclsecretary@hotmail.comhclsecretary@hotmail.comhclsecretary@hotmail.com

The HCL Management Committee will meet on Thursday (February 25) to discuss the way forward.