The first ball of the 2008 cricket season will be bowled at Lords today, venue for the inaugural Lionel Mello Sixes Tournament.

The event, played in memory of late St.David's groundsman and grandfather of national team slugger Lionel Cann, will see eight teams, split into two groups, battle it out in five-over contests.

Those team's slugging it out for top honours include Cleveland County, Devonshire Recreation Club, Social Club, Bailey's Bay and St.George's while hosts St.David's have entered two teams.

"It's going to be a great way to start the season," organiser Cann wrote in his Bermuda Sun column this week. "It's going to be exciting."

Bermuda Cricket Board's (BCB) 2008 season was officially supposed to start tomorrow with a First Division encounter at Lords involving Bermuda's newly-formed Under-18 national team and Flatts who were relegated from the top tier last season.

But that match along with the First Division game between the Under-18 national team and Warwick, scheduled for today at the National Sports Centre, has been postponed, according to a BCB announcement yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Commercial Cricket League, whose new season is due to start in two weeks' time, have sent out an urgent appeal to clubs and schools to help avert a looming crisis by making fields available to the league.

Because of ongoing improvements – part of the $11 million Government pumped into cricket – at two of the three grounds the Commercial League use on a weekly basis, only Garrison Field is ready ahead of the season opener on May 4, the annual Memorial Trophy match between the league champions and Knockout Cup winners.

Another ground regularly used by the Commercial League – Warren Simmons Community Field, the former Royal Naval Field in Somerset – is waiting for a new strip to be laid, although Richard Basden, president of Willow Cuts, which has a 21-year Government lease on the field, says it should be in place by May 11.

An upgrade by Youth and Sport to the outfield at Shelly Bay means the ground will not be available until July at the earliest – a major blow to not only the nine-strong Commercial League but also to the Evening League whose 16 teams in two divisions play all their matches there.

Organiser Stephen West, who has run for the Evening League for 24 years, has been forced to push back the start of his season which will now run until the middle of October.

Armell Thomas, head of the Bermuda Public Services Union, has been appointed the Commercial League's new president in place of businessman Paul Field, who stepped down.

Ernst & Young, a team of accountants, have replaced Fine Leg Byes, who pulled out because of a shortage of players.

Club representatives, who met this week, will reconvene at the end of the month.

It was agreed if the pitch situation is not resolved by then teams may be forced to double up and play league games using a 20/20 format.