Devonshire Recreation Club have taken matters into their own hands and will not show up for Saturday's match with Leg Trappers in protest over Bermuda Cricket Board's (BCB) decision to schedule a full slate of First Division fixtures at short notice.

The BCB announced yesterday that there are to be four First Division matches played on the same day when Somerset Cricket Club and Lords play host to the popular Belco Cup.

However, the Board's last minute decision has not gone down well with Devonshire who claim they will be unable to field a squad.

"We have decided not to play the match on short notice and there's just no way we will able to field a team because some of our players will be off Island," explained Devonshire cricket spokesperson Micheal Glasford.

"The Board had originally only scheduled Belco Cup matches for this weekend and some of our players took advantage of the opportunity to make alternative plans."

Glasford added that his club have already taken the steps to inform the BCB of their intentions via written correspondence.

He added: "Had the Board announced the schedule earlier rather than inform us we have to play a match on such short notice, then we would have played."

Glasford also claims the BCB have yet to release a draft of this season's Limited Overs schedule – nearly three weeks into the domestic campaign which kicked off with the Open League May 3.

However, senior BCB executive Allen Richardson has dismissed the Devonshire spokesman's claims and is adamant the Board have in fact sent out a draft of the 2009 Limited Overs schedule to its members. "They (clubs) were informed some time back when the Board sent out a schedule. We had an old schedule that was sent out to the clubs and it was just a matter of confirming exactly when the matches can be played once we knew which fields would be available and so forth," he said.

Asked did he think it was a wise decision to schedule the matches the same day as the Belco Cup, Richardson emphatically replied "no".

Meanwhile, the Board have confirmed that last weekend's postponed Open League Group B clash at White Hill Field involving Bailey's Bay and Somerset Bridge will not be played.

As a result group leaders St.George's will now join the likes of Devonshire and Young Men's Social Club in the competition's semi-finals.

The May 9 match between Bay and Bridge failed to get underway due to the unavailability of umpires.

And the Board's decision not to reschedule the match might have been a bitter pill to swallow for a Bay side whose hopes of overhauling St.George's have now been dashed.

"According to the rules no matches are to be rescheduled because of no umpires showing up," Richardson confirmed. Asked why did the Board choose to reschedule Open League matches between PHC and St.David's, Western Stars and Police and Bay and Flatts that fell prey to unprepared pitches, Richardson replied: "All those matches were rescheduled because we did receive notification from the clubs confirming that their grounds would not be ready on time."

Saturday's rescheduled Open League match involving PHC and St.David's will ultimately determine the fourth and final semi-finalist in the Board's revised open cricket competition.