Cricket Season Begins

By Mac Dawson

THERE are nine teams in the Upper Hunter cricket competition this season.

Everyone has a hope of making the grand final, it is a very open competition this year.

With the Bunnan team folding a few very good players have spread themselves out amoungst different teams, so we won’t know until Christmas how things are shaping up.

See draw below.

The Bunnan team which has been around for approximately 50 years, have unfortunately had to pull out this season due to family commitments with players not being able to play this season and not having enough players for the season to have a competitive year.

Glen Davis and the Bunnan boys really need to be commended for their past services to the Upper Hunter Cricket Association as they are one of the longest serving clubs in the competition and it was very sad to see them go, but a few of the Bunnan boys have gone into the other teams in the competition.

The Warriors have picked up four or five players, Rouchel has picked up a couple and also the Belmore Bulls have picked up a couple I believe.

The Warriors are going for three consecutive years as premiers and we are definitely feeling the pressure in a way as we’ve had a few of the older boys step back and give a few of the younger fellas the reigns this year with a few moving away for work and some starting families.

So we are probably back to a rebuilding phase with a lot of juniors for example Jack Purnell and Bailey Black they’ve been showing a lot of enthusiasm during training and are keen for the season so it is great to see younger players wanting to get involved in senior cricket not just junior cricket.

A lot of the clubs that do have a great junior base we do try and keep growing to allow for the next generation to take over from us and we took over from the likes of James MacCallum, Jason Brooks and David O’Donnell, so the next generation is coming through.

It is also good to see that we’ve got two new umpires with Gavin Newton Smith and Jake Teague both completing the course, but they are also players so they will only be umpiring when there is a bye.

We’ve had rain predicted for the weekend and all of us are probably quite happy to see mother nature send some rain rather than us playing cricket, because we obviously need the rain a lot more than we need to play cricket at this stage.

If anyone is keen for a game of cricket contact us:

• Gavin Newton Smith:0422 848 007
• Mac Dawson, vice president: 0432 746 716

ROUND 1 DRAW:

• Warriors v Merriwa – Saunders, Bill Rose Complex, Scone.
• Aberdeen 1 v Belltrees – Aberdeen.
• Belltrees Bushrangers v Murrurundi – Belltrees.
• Belmore Bulls v Rouchel – McNab, Bill Rose Complex, Scne.
• Aberdeen 2 – bye.