Bourton Vale Cricket Club will field three adult competitive teams on Saturday afternoons this season for the first time in their 136-year history.

The club, whose flagship team play in the Gloucestershire Division of the West of England Premier League, will also have teams in Division Four and Division Seven of the Gloucestershire League.

Bourton fielded two adult teams on Saturday afternoons last season and the new team have been established because they have “merged operations” with near neighbours Slaughters United.

The new set-up means the Slaughters United name won’t feature in the County League in 2019 although they will continue to play friendlies under the Slaughters United name on Sundays.

“The two clubs have merged operations,” said Bourton chairman Kevin Langley, who is keen to stress that the two clubs remain separate entities.

“It means we can unwind things if they don’t work out. We think it will work but it is very experimental.

“We’ve still got two committees and two constitutions, so we’ve kept the best of both worlds.

“I will sit on their committee along with our club treasurer and Slaughters’ chairman and treasurer will sit on our committee so there is complete transparency.”

Slaughters’ chairman is Paul Heming – or Hemo as he is widely known – the club’s long-serving wicketkeeper who has played a big part in the new arrangement between the two clubs.

“The two clubs have always been quite close rivals,” explained Langley. “I was talking to Hemo at our cricket festival last year and that’s when the idea first came about.

“They were struggling because of player availability – the population of their village has changed so much over the years with a lot more weekenders and their junior set-up was diminishing dramatically.

“He realised that the club had to do something.”

And that ‘something’ ensures that there will still be plenty of cricket played at Slaughters’ home ground because Bourton’s newly formed 3rd XI will play their home fixtures at one of the most picturesque grounds in Gloucestershire.

The 2nd XI, meanwhile, will play their home games at Bourton’s home ground off Rissington Road.

Slaughters United finished bottom of Division Three of the County League last season while Bourton’s 2nds, who will in effect become the club’s 3rd XI, were fifth in Division Seven.