Baseball in Australia Australia would receive an automatic berth in the Little League World Series starting in 2013. Baseball is considered traditionally a summer sport, meaning such that it will start in spring and end in autumn, however, this has changed many times in Australia for different reasons. One of these reasons is because baseball in Australia was originally considered a sport for cricketers in the off-season, but as baseball became more popular as a standalone sport it was played more often in summer. The Claxton Shield was traditionally played in the Australian winter so Sheffield Shield players could participate. However, the Australian
History of the Midlands Merit League Akkies RLFC. The final table (27 July) was as follows: Play-offs: Championship semi-finals Moorends-Thorne Marauders 'A' 44 Sheffield Forgers 22 Nottingham Outlaws 'A' 4 Wigan Riversiders 48 Shield semi-finals Nottingham 30 German Exiles 24 Sheffield 36 Birmingham Bulldogs 24 FINALS: Sunday 17 August 2008 GRAND FINAL: Moorends-Thorne Marauders 'A' 28 Wigan Riversiders 18 SHIELD: Nottingham Outlaws 34 Sheffield Forgers 32 2009 saw the largest ever entry, with over 30 teams split into two leagues; "Yorkshire and Humber" and "North West" with Midlands teams joining the newly created Midlands Rugby League. The top four teams in the two pools played-off for