An expanded Commercial Cricket League will reintroduce the League Cup during the new season which will begin on April 29 with the annual Memorial Cup featuring 2006 league winners Forties and Knockout winners North Village.

New club BC Allrounders — based on the old Devonshire Stars team — and St. David’s, who have returned after missing a season, will increase the number of teams from seven to nine, meaning clubs will have time only to play each other once in the league.

St. George’s Cricket Club had expressed an interest in joining the league but their application was rejected because no representative of the club attended Tuesday’s night’s annual meeting.

The top eight teams, based on league results, will compete in the League Cup — which has not been on the schedule for many seasons — to be interspersed with league matches, followed by the Knockout at the end of the season in which all nine teams will compete.

Among the first league fixtures on May 6 will be the showdown between Jamaican Association and West Indian Association will which also decide the annual Caribbean Cup between the two clubs.

There has been no change to the existing rule allowing players under the age of 18 to move freely between Premier and Commercial clubs but players aged between 19 and 21 will now be allowed to play a maximum of two Premier matches before dropping to the lower flight.