Ranchi, May 31: In a fresh bid to keep the state?s senior cricket players both in shape and form, Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) is going to organise an inter-district summer cricket tournament at Netarhat in Latehar district from June 5.

Six district teams in the elite group and four from the plate group have been divided into two groups. Each team will have to play four league matches and two top teams from each group will play semi-finals on June 16, JSCA sources informed.

The group ?A? comprises teams of Dhanbad, Giridih, Hazaribagh, and two teams from the plate group. Similarly, group ?B? consists of Ranchi, Bokaro, Palamau and two teams from the plate group. The two teams for each group would be decided after the completion of the plate group matches that are being played in four clusters at Lohardaga, Jamtara and Bokaro.

A group of district officials, led by the vice-president (districts) Praveen Singh, visited Netarhat on May 27 to take stock of the preparations before the commencement of the tournament, said Sunil Singh, secretary of Ranchi District Cricket Association.

Singh said the idea of organising the summer cricket tournament was proposed with a view to maintain the fitness of players, who have a long lay-off between two seasons. It was found that when the season starts, players appear to be off-colour and naturally they take time to settle down, but by that time, some tournaments get underway and the players get little time to practise.

Talking about the ground conditions at Netrahat, Singh said the two grounds are in reasonably good condition. However, the matches would be played on mates, he added.

The RDCA today announced its district team for the championship. Ranji player Shabbir Hussain will lead the team, which includes Arun Vidyarthi, Santosh Lal, Rajesh Jha, Sanjeev Kumar, Subroto Ghosh, Kundan Kumar, Siddharth Raj Sinha, Manoj Singh, Dilip Yadav, Shiv Prakash Gautam, Ghulam Rabbani, Suraj Bhan Singh, Akhilesh Kumar, and Naushad Ansari.

Ranchi will play its first match on June 10 and the team will leave for Netrahat on June 9 morning.

The selected players have been asked to report for practice at Mecon stadium, Singh said.