PDCA

[Armchair expert]

Amateur cricket is in bad shape, that's the truth of it

[The Bedge]

Amateur cricket is in bad shape, that's the truth of it

Correct.

[Lightning McQueen]

Atco with the first win of the season.

Salisbury West forfeited their D Grade side. Without looking it up would be a very long time since SW only fielded 3 teams. Worrying times.

They're not alone in struggling this week - a lot of clubs are having difficulties.

Even Ingle Farm in ATCA were half a dozen players down last night.

Enfield - I'm still trying to fill the sides, have more than 2x teams worth of players U/A

Round 1 has been a struggle since as long as I can remember, there's still footy trips and it's the start of wedding season, some players want another couple of weeks off after footy but it's all nothing new.

If anything, they could've probably had another week or two off for the lower grades but that would only be for the benefit of the minority, there's a lot of blokes of lesser skill that hang out all winter for round 1. Look at Eyre Royals for instance, 6 senior teams and they are ready to roll, it obviously helps when at a guess 75% of their players probably don't play a winter sport so they shouldn't have to miss out a few weeks because of less committed players from other clubs want an extended break.

[Lightning McQueen]

Atco with the first win of the season.

Salisbury West forfeited their D Grade side. Without looking it up would be a very long time since SW only fielded 3 teams. Worrying times.

I wouldn't look too far into it, their A's look a bit light on compared to what we're used of seeing but I'm sure they're missing a few for various reasons.

Love them or hate them they are the benchmark of the comp and have great comradeship as a club, I'm sure all their grades will play finals.

[Lightning McQueen]

Amateur cricket is in bad shape, that's the truth of it

Absolutely it has, cricket in general has lost it's pizzaz in today's society. All the PDCA can do is a provide a platform for people to play cricket and they do a fantastic job in maintaining a comp regardless of the skill level getting around compared to what it was 10-15 years ago, to still have 8 senior grades is a credit to them and all the clubs still participating.

[Lightning McQueen]

FWIW with little to go by.
ROUND 1
Grade 1
Salisbury West vs Angle Vale
Virginia vs Eyre Royals
North Pines vs Eastern Park
Craigmore vs ATCO

Grade 2
Angle Vale vs Salisbury West
Salisbury North vs Eyre Royals
ATCO vs Craigmore
Smithfield vs One Tree Hill

A couple of noticeable player movements, Ken Gray playing Grade 1 for Eastern Park, good to see him still out there, never thought I'd see the day he'd play at Eastern Park, I hope he goes well.
Kayne Schugmann crossing over to ATCO from Angle Vale, a very handy get for the Hornets who already boast a very handy bowling line up.

[Lightning McQueen]

PG has been solid for a long time but scarily like Enfield even some established clubs are now battling big time. North Pines have been solid but it’s always been in a few different variety’s including groups of mates forming their own teams at the club and taking off again etc, moving up and down divisions as they please.

It’s kind of a domino affect, all these clubs hanging on by a thread, swapping and changing from 1 dayers/ 2 dayers, dropping down divisions etc isn’t ideal and I’m sure the clubs don’t like having to do it either. It does make the PDCA job extremely hard and no wonder they struggle at times to find/keep committee members. Would be one of the tougher comps in the state to run.

Funny enough, The Gardens and Pines both have nominated 4 sides, Enfield 3. I guess the thought of fielding for up to 70 overs isn't too appealing anymore, there are many clubs that have only fielded sides in the one day comps, I don't think we'll relegations/promotions anymore in the two day comps, my guess is that the Grade 2 Grand Finalists will be two B Grade teams.

[whufc]

PG has been solid for a long time but scarily like Enfield even some established clubs are now battling big time. North Pines have been solid but it’s always been in a few different variety’s including groups of mates forming their own teams at the club and taking off again etc, moving up and down divisions as they please.

It’s kind of a domino affect, all these clubs hanging on by a thread, swapping and changing from 1 dayers/ 2 dayers, dropping down divisions etc isn’t ideal and I’m sure the clubs don’t like having to do it either. It does make the PDCA job extremely hard and no wonder they struggle at times to find/keep committee members. Would be one of the tougher comps in the state to run.

Funny enough, The Gardens and Pines both have nominated 4 sides, Enfield 3. I guess the thought of fielding for up to 70 overs isn't too appealing anymore, there are many clubs that have only fielded sides in the one day comps, I don't think we'll relegations/promotions anymore in the two day comps, my guess is that the Grade 2 Grand Finalists will be two B Grade teams.

How long do you think the 2 day comp can hold on for. Another 5 years?

[Lightning McQueen]

Grade 1 will always be a traditional comp

[whufc]

Grade 1 will always be a traditional comp

Let’s hope…that’s the way it should be.

[The Bedge]

We're in trouble this week.. Saturday night is India vs Pakistan in the world cup... it's like the biggest rivalry in their nation, means 90% of our club will be unavailable to play Saturday.

[The Bedge]

Well finished the 1st two weeks of the season - here's hoping it gets easier!

Grade 1 off to an interesting start, EP winning outright, Westies losing and Eyre doing a number on Virginia. Given you expect sides like Salisbury West and Virginia to hit their straps and push their way into the 4 by seasons end, it's definitely made the division a little more interesting given they're started a fair bit behind now.

How's Grade 2! Smithfield with the reverse outright! massive effort! Angle Vale smacked Westies, Eyre touched up Salisbury North and ATCO beat Craigmore.

LO1 is an interesting division, you'd have to think Dublin and Central United the clear favorites, Parafield Gardens are dangerous and have depth - from there it looks reasonably even I'd say.

Must say, shout out to the Andrews Farm side, and Justin May - I'm injured, but managed to slut my way into that division on the weekend to help us get a side on the park.. despite the scoreline being one sided, it was quite an enjoyable game and the AFCC lads are a great bunch. They play the game in the right spirit, they're competitive and talented but not arrogant or disrespectful. They took everything in their stride - including a clear stumping late in our innings, where the batsman (new to cricket and has an intellectual disability) missed the ball and went walking halfway down the wicket. The kid doing square leg gave it not out.. they were frustrated initially for a few moments, but quickly put it behind them and got on with the game - didn't hear anymore about it, they didn't make a big song and dance about it, just went back to playing.

Not to mention, when one of last wickets to fall came about, the batsman in frustration had a little tantrum and said something to their players as he stormed off - they just shrugged their shoulders and moved on.

Both incidents could've had the potential to really sour the game, but the maturity shown by the AF side ensured that we completed the game without incident.

[whufc]

Interesting to see Clare lad Dylan Stutley hit a ton on the weekend for OTH

Great country lad, always an enjoyable to play against him.

[moriachi]

Well finished the 1st two weeks of the season - here's hoping it gets easier!

Grade 1 off to an interesting start, EP winning outright, Westies losing and Eyre doing a number on Virginia. Given you expect sides like Salisbury West and Virginia to hit their straps and push their way into the 4 by seasons end, it's definitely made the division a little more interesting given they're started a fair bit behind now.

How's Grade 2! Smithfield with the reverse outright! massive effort! Angle Vale smacked Westies, Eyre touched up Salisbury North and ATCO beat Craigmore.

LO1 is an interesting division, you'd have to think Dublin and Central United the clear favorites, Parafield Gardens are dangerous and have depth - from there it looks reasonably even I'd say.

Must say, shout out to the Andrews Farm side, and Justin May - I'm injured, but managed to slut my way into that division on the weekend to help us get a side on the park.. despite the scoreline being one sided, it was quite an enjoyable game and the AFCC lads are a great bunch. They play the game in the right spirit, they're competitive and talented but not arrogant or disrespectful. They took everything in their stride - including a clear stumping late in our innings, where the batsman (new to cricket and has an intellectual disability) missed the ball and went walking halfway down the wicket. The kid doing square leg gave it not out.. they were frustrated initially for a few moments, but quickly put it behind them and got on with the game - didn't hear anymore about it, they didn't make a big song and dance about it, just went back to playing.

Not to mention, when one of last wickets to fall came about, the batsman in frustration had a little tantrum and said something to their players as he stormed off - they just shrugged their shoulders and moved on.

Both incidents could've had the potential to really sour the game, but the maturity shown by the AF side ensured that we completed the game without incident.

We played AF the week before and except for 1 nasty incident from 1 person what you wrote above was true of the majority of the AF people. Looks like that club is moving in the right direction.

Are you in LO4 for the year @The Bedge?



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[BenchedEagle]

Interesting Womens draw…
After taking the absolute piss for years, Eyre lose a few players and they get let down to Grade 2. Laughable

[The Old Fellow]

Interesting Womens draw…
After taking the absolute piss for years, Eyre lose a few players and they get let down to Grade 2. Laughable

I don't know who they have actually lost but would assume it would be their top end players. They have lost more than a few players if they have gone from 3 teams to only one.

[whufc]

Interesting Womens draw…
After taking the absolute piss for years, Eyre lose a few players and they get let down to Grade 2. Laughable

Watch them come out and win the grade 2 flag.

[Lucky For Some]

Interesting Womens draw…
After taking the absolute piss for years, Eyre lose a few players and they get let down to Grade 2. Laughable

I think you will find the previous 'A' side headed off to Fitzroy, with a couple heading to Eastern Park. Haven't seen for myself but have been told only Clarkson and the Wasley girls remain at Eyre.

[BenchedEagle]

I get that probably a team of players have left but their As and Bs were in Grade 1 last year. Surely they will have enough remaining to fill a half decent side but god forbid they had to work hard for it in Grade 1. [emoji849]

[The Bedge]

Are you in LO4 for the year @The Bedge?

No sir.