Bats and balls are being pulled from the closet and dusted off as the Macleay Valley Cricket Association's season approaches.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The senior competition is scheduled to launch on Saturday October 12 while the juniors will take to the field on Saturday October 19.
Alterations have been made to the format of the first and second grade competitions.
The four nominated first grade sides; Rovers, Nulla, South West Rocks and Stuarts Point/Eungai, and the second grade sides, will compete in one-day matches until the Christmas and New Year Break.
Once returning in January, the teams will compete in Twenty20 matches until February.
The competition will then implement two-day matches for the next six weeks of competition leading into the finals.
The third grade competition will continue to play 40-over one day matches throughout the entire season.
Macleay Valley Cricket Association president Ben Paix is hopeful the junior numbers will increase as a result of the recent programs held by Cricket NSW.
"The season is quickly approaching so we encourage all juniors and new players to get in touch with a local club and start the registration process so they can begin training and are ready to go for the start of the season," Paix said.
"We are expecting a kick in numbers after the NSW Cricket programs held recently. Sixers players Sean Abbott and Lauren Smith held a training session and there were two recent carnivals that school students attended.
"A carnival at Gladstone for Year 3 and 4 students had about 170 kids while a carnival in Kempsey for Year 5 and 6 students had about 230 kids.
"Hopefully this translates into more young kids getting involved in cricket."
Paix was also pleased to announce a eight-week program starting in November which will help teach young kids the important cricket skills at a younger age.
"The Junior Blasts program will be held on Thursday afternoons for about an hour and it targets kids under the age of 10," Paix said.
"The program will give the younger kids a taste of cricket and teach them the fundamental skills at an early age."
The associations annual Bash 4 Cash Twenty20 tournament will run on Saturday January 25. More information will be available closer to the date but expressions of interested are welcome now.
