Tony Clifton wrote:1st XI cricket is really only a hindrance to the most talented kids and only in their final year of it. Whether a kid is playing 1st XI, C's, D's, 16 Reds... who cares. It's the ones who would be playing A's or B's who stagnate at school level.
These players sometimes start 1st XI cricket in Year 9.... Year10.... Year 11.... Year 12.... that's a long time at the same level, with the players around you getting progressively younger (comparatively). The opposite of development.
Year 12 is the key year for students, not just academically but also socially and in relation to co-curricular. As stated earlier, you will find that many will want to play with their peers. Even if there are students from younger levels, you will find the bulk of the team of each college being Year 12's.
Also, the college cricket program is over by mid-November. As such, with SACA now not starting until mid-October, clubs would only miss their Year 12's for up to 3 matches. With heat and rain, this is quite often reduced to 1 or 2. I don't think any schools have covers, and sport is cancelled if the forecast is 35 degrees or more on Friday evening's forecast.
Cheers