THREE new senior clubs will join the Swan Hill & District Cricket Association for the upcoming season, it was confirmed at the league’s annual general meeting on Wednesday night.
Murrabit, Koondrook-Barham and Kerang will all play in the SHDCA after the Northern District association disbanded.
The moves followed the path of former NDCA club Wandella, who joined the SHDCA two years ago.
Along with departures by Leitchville-Gunbower, Cohuna United and Nondescripts to the Goulburn Murray association, it left only four clubs in the Northern District competition: Murrabit, Koondrook, Barham and Kerang.
SHDCA president Greg Cruickshank said that with three new clubs and an air of excitement, the future of local cricket had never looked brighter.
“I’m really excited for cricket in Swan Hill now, to expand and bring these new clubs into the competition will reinvigorate cricket in our region,” Cruickshank told The Guardian.
“Talking to the teams that are coming across, they’re all excited at the proposition of coming up and playing at a different level of cricket from what they’ve experienced.
“I’m excited for our competition because I think it will breathe new life into it.
“Wandella were a bit daunted by coming across and they weren’t sure how they would go, but they have been very competitive, having won the under-16s competition in their first year and then playing in two A Grade grand finals last season.
“It will be a challenge for our present clubs, because there is going to be some good competition coming into our league as there are some very good cricketers at the new clubs.”
While expansion was seen as a major positive, it will also bring a number of challenges for the current board, with extra games needing to be played in what was an even A Grade fixture.
Cruickshank said those problems wouldn’t be insurmountable, despite major changes being discussed.
“We asked a lot of questions about how clubs felt about different formats and structures and that was just so we could get a guide from them as to their preference going forward,” he said.
“There’s going to be some challenges in how best to manage three senior competitions that have nine A Grade teams, 14 B Grade teams and six or seven C Grade teams and three different formats being played in the A Grade.
“We’ve had some feedback that B Grade may not necessarily want to play T20 cricket, so we will look at that, but we’ve also heard that there is still a desire for A Grade T20 cricket, so we will try and incorporate that into the fixture without playing on weekdays or Sundays.
“We have some narrow parameters to work with, but we’re getting the feeling through our feedback that if we don’t play full rounds in any one format, then so be it, as long as it’s even across all the teams.”
One certainty was that two-day cricket in its traditional format was dead in the water, with a majority of clubs preferring to continue with the current 50-over, unrestricted one-day format in its place.
Cruickshank also indicated a desire to step down from the presidency, a role he has held for the past eight seasons.
A decision on his replacement will be made at the new board’s first meeting next month, with Cruickshank hoping to help the new president through their initial year while still serving out his two-year term.
“We need someone new to take on the role and grow the competition, which was my main goal as president,” Cruickshank said.
“We have a great group of people leading the game in our area, but it’s also time for somebody else to come in with fresh ideas and drive the game forward for the next decade.”
