THE popular Colchester Cricket Festival has fallen victim to fixture scheduling and will not go ahead next season. 

It is the second year in row the well-attended event has fallen off the cricket calendar. 

Last year Essex Cricket bosses said the festival would be “suspended” because the ECB fixture list gave the eventual County Championship winners just one league home game in a three-month period. 

John Faragher, club chairman, said the club committee found it “simply not acceptable” to agree a plan which would see the County Ground not hosting a County game for that period. 

However, the fixtures announced for the 2018 season this morning show the traditional Bank Holiday weekend set aside for the Castle Park festival is lined up for the quarter finals of the Natwest T20 Blast.

A four-day County Championship game is scheduled in at the CloudFM County Ground, in Chelmsford, from Wednesday, August 29. 

Philip George, president of Colchester and East Essex Cricket Club, which is based at the Castle Park ground, said: “I think it is fair to say the fixture list has conspired against us.

“However I would say that just because it is the second year in a row it hasn’t happened, it doesn’t mean it is never going to happen again.

READ MORE: Cricket festival 'suspended due to fixture scheduling'

“I know on the [Essex Cricket Club] board, there is a genuine wish to bring it back but we can only do what we can do.”

He added: “Of course, in an ideal world, you would have a the opportunity - as we have in the past - to play a a one-day game and a County Championship game  but that’s just not something that is going to happen these days.

“Were the fixtures to be kinder to us, it could have been a different story.”

Essex Cricket has been contacted for comment.

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