Flatts are disputing their relegation from the Premier Division after the final standings tabulated by the Bermuda Cricket Board saw them finish bottom just two points behind Cleveland, who have been confirmed by the board to play against Somerset in the play-off match today.

Flatts lost their last two matches to Southampton Rangers and St George’s last weekend to finish in the automatic relegation spot.

However, the club were under the impression that they were level on 20 points with Cleveland, according to standings released on September 3 by the BCB “as of Friday, August 30”.

That weekend both Flatts and Cleveland won their matches, Flatts beating St David’s by five wickets on September 1, the same day that Cleveland thrashed Bailey’s Bay by 115 runs.

Flatts noticed on CricHQ last Friday that the standings showed them on 28 points and Cleveland on 29.

Both lost last weekend and according to Flatts’ tabulation for bonus points, they got two bonus points from their loss to Southampton Rangers on the Saturday while Cleveland should have earned one bonus point in their loss to St David’s on Sunday.

On the same day, Flatts lost heavily to St George’s, but they estimated they got two bonus points from that match which should have put them one point ahead of Cleveland and in fifth place.

The board issued official standings yesterday which showed that Flatts finished on 31 points and Cleveland on 32.

That means that Flatts are relegated while Cleveland will play against Somerset in the play-off match to see which team plays in the Premier Division next season.

Flatts, however, had thought they did enough to avoid the drop.

“We based our strategy on how the standings were on the Friday so we thought we had enough points to be in front of Cleveland,” explained Jon Carey, a Flatts executive, who stressed his comments were personal views, having not spoken to other club officials at the time of print yesterday.

“Essentially, it was a matter of us being able to understand what the standings were and what was required from us in that last game.

“We thought we had achieved what we needed to and then we got a note saying we were relegated, so we’re questioning what happened.

“They had not been back in touch with us the last time I checked which was around lunch time.

“I don’t think it was fair. We had a strategy in place and we thought we had achieved it, only to find out there was an error in the standings they published. That has impacted us negatively.”

Flatts devised a strategy to focus on extra bonus points for last weekend’s games in the event both they and Cleveland lost their final games.

Meanwhile, Somerset are hoping to repeat Flatts’ feat last season and clinch promotion by beating Premier Division side Cleveland in today’s promotion play-off match today at St John’s Field.

Last season Flatts, who finished second in the First Division promotion race to Cleveland, made history by becoming the first team from the First Division to beat a Premier Division side in the play-off match.

Now Flatts are heading to the First Division after finishing bottom of the standings while their Eastern Counties rivals Cleveland get one more chance to remain in the top flight.

Somerset finished second to neighbours Willow Cuts in the promotion race, but it is still in their own hands if they are to join Cuts in the top division next season.

Somerset finished 21 points behind Willow Cuts and 14 points ahead of third-placed Western Stars in the standings.

The final matches of the 2019 season will be the One Communications championship matches involving the top two teams in the two divisions.

Southampton Rangers, the Premier Division champions, will meet Bailey’s Bay tomorrow at St David’s.

The teams chose not to play their final league match lat Sea Breeze Oval, after it was learnt that no umpires were scheduled.

Rangers, who also won the T20 League, finished unbeaten in the 50 Overs League where they won eight of their nine matches to finish 42 points ahead of Bailey’s Bay.

St George’s came within a point of finishing second on net run-rate, ending their season on 70 points while Bay collected 71.

In the One Communications First Division championship match, neighbours Cuts and Somerset will battle at St John’s Field, with Cuts winning the league with 132 points from ten wins.