T20 competition to open season

Colts and Leschenault will officially open the 2019 Bunbury and Districts Cricket Association season at the Bunbury Recreation Ground on Saturday morning.

It will be a vastly different cricketing landscape this summer, with only five teams competing in A-grade.

However the competitions below are a different story, with 10 teams in second grade and a staggering 15 in fourth grade.

Association competitions coordinator Jason Reid told the Bunbury Herald how the fourth grade format has been tinkered in order to maximise competitiveness.

“The idea was put forward to amalgamate the fourth and fifth grade competitions,” he said.

“So we put to the clubs to see if they were interested in having a combined competition. So they will all play each other once, before they split into three grades for the finals.

“You will have a top five, sides placed sixth to 10th, along with the 11th to 15th placed teams.”

Reid believes the concept was embraced by the clubs, which will give them all a true indication of where their team sits in the overall cricketing pyramid.

While a five team A-grade competition could have some drawbacks, Reid outlined the steps taken in order to ensure all players get plenty of opportunities to play.

“Basically our fixtures are decided by the clubs,” Reid said.

“We chat with them about what options are available and then they come up with some scenarios they would like to see.

“With the A-grade, we have gone with a separate T20 competition, which will take three weeks to do.

“We will then have 15 rounds of the A-grade season, with 10 of those matches 45 or 50 overs a side and one full round of 60 over cricket.”

Colts have enjoyed plenty of success at T20 level, however they will enter Saturday with a vastly different side.

The T20 competition concludes on November 30.

BDCA key dates

Round 1 T20 - Saturday, October 12

10am Colts v Leschenault at Recreation Ground;10.30am Marist v Hay Park at Forrest Park East; 2.30pm Eaton v Colts at Eaton Sports Ground, Marist v Leschenault at Forrest Park East.

Round 1 women’s competition - Saturday, October 20

10.30am Hay Park v Marist at Hay Park East, Colts v Eaton at Recreation Ground.