THE new one-off competition to replace the 2020 Cornwall Cricket League season is set to begin in two weeks' time.

The Government gave the green light for recreational cricket in England to return on Friday, with an adapted form of cricket allowed to be played from Saturday, July 11.

This weekend and the following weekend will be used for clubs to play friendly matches if they wish, with the new one-off competition set to begin on Saturday, July 25.

The competition will run for eight weeks until the originally scheduled final weekend of the season on Saturday, September 12.

All clubs have been given the option to opt out of this new competition, with the CCL due to send a questionnaire to all clubs this week to confirm their intentions and numbers and strength of team entries.

Clubs will have to complete the survey by Monday, July 13 to allow for work on groups and fixtures for publication on Saturday, July 18, with games to begin seven days later on July 25.

An initial survey carried out last week saw only 50 per cent of clubs indicate they are likely to compete in a structured format with 25 per cent preferring to organise their friendlies and the other 25 per cent not playing at all.

The new competition has come about after the CCL "reluctantly" cancelled the 2020 league season on Friday, just hours before the Government gave approval for cricket to return.

The 2020 season, which was due to have begun on April 18, would have reached its 11th week and halfway point last weekend, meaning a half season would still have been possible if play was to begin in the next week or two and the season could be extended to the end of September.

READ MORE: Cornwall Cricket League regular season is cancelled

But with some clubs unable to play past the regular mid-September deadline and with the ECB still awaiting permission from the Government to allow recreational cricket at that point, the decision was made to cancel the season.

The latest update from the Government signals progression from Step 3 to Step 4 of ECB’s roadmap to return for the recreational game, meaning competitive cricket matches in England with adjustments to respect hygiene and social distancing would be permitted.

The ECB is set to announce what these specific adjustments will be early this week.