There were also plenty of positives behind the scenes.

The South West Rocks Cricket Club received a grant to upgrade their nets, Stuarts Point/Eungai have fundraised and will have their nets upgraded before next season, plans in place for upgrades at South Kempsey and the association will benefit from the $10 million commitment from Melinda Pavey to upgrade the Verge St Oval facilities.

In his first year in charge, Ben Paix has pushed for these upgrades and the Macleay Valley Cricket Association president has told the Argus he intends to stick around to finish the job.

"I want to see all of our plans through," Paix said.

"We want to develop a lot more infrastructure to give our local cricketers the best opportunities.

"There are still plenty of things to happen and I will remain in charge if they will have me."

While Paix continues to look at various avenues to improve the local cricket facilities, the president acknowledges all of the hard work from volunteers sets the association on the right track.

"The juniors are our future and the majority of our focus is on them and their development," Paix said.

"And that couldn't happen without all of the selfless volunteer work by members within our association, so a huge thank you to them.

"I think what sets us a part from other associations is our successful work with our juniors and our ability to improve their performances and play them in higher grades.

"We had plenty of kids playing and excelling in our senior grades. I think the Rovers Premier League side is a good example of this. They have plenty of juniors in that side and they are all benefiting from playing at a high level."

2019 Macleay Valley Cricket Association grand final results:

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