THE start of the Mount Gambier and District Cricket Association was this week thrown into disarray, due to the late withdrawal of Kongorong from the A Grade competition.
Due to start this weekend, the season was set to go ahead without the inclusion of Yahl Cricket Club, which was not nominated in the A Grade ranks.
But all was right to go until Kongorong made the decision to pull out at the last minute.
The withdrawal has forced a delay to the start of the Barber Shield season, which will now see a six-team competition.
For association president George Kidman it was an unfortunate situation.
However, he said the delayed start was the best outcome to allow teams and players to assess the situation.
“We have made a call for a major structural change to the draw, which will mean we will postpone the start of the season until October 21,” he said.
“It will still be a 10-round season in the Barber Shield, so everyone will play each other once in a two-day game and once in a one-day game.
“That will be 10 weeks of two-day cricket and five weeks of one-day cricket.”
The postponement includes other senior grades – B and C Grade – with a draw to be released as soon as possible to reflect the changes.
Kidman said the association would work to support those players who would normally have lined up for Kongorong and help the club resolve any issues it may be facing.
“We just really want to support clubs and try to help clubs,” he said.
“For Kongorong it is really upsetting because they have battled really hard and their top-end talent are some of the better players in the association.”
Kidman said he was surprised with the situation, but he said it would leave extra players in the association to spread across the remaining teams.
“It is a bit surprising, but it leaves good depth of cricketers in the region,” he said.
“If the Kongorong players spread themselves evenly across the competition, we could have an excellent six-team competition.
“While it hurts for Yahl and Kongorong, maybe cricket in the region is the beneficiary.
“If the standard of the competition increases, we will have an even competition I think.”
While Kidman expects players to look to move to other clubs, he said there were still a few sticking points to be ironed out.
“If a player goes to another club, then gets dropped from the A Grade, can they go back to Kongorong to play B Grade?” he said.
“It is a tricky one but we will make it as easy as we can for players to be cleared.”
Overall Kidman said the delayed start would have little effect on the overall season.
“With the wet weather we have had, starting on the 21st isn’t going to be a bad thing,” he said.
“We still have the grand final scheduled for the 10th and 11th of March and we have a nice compact draw.
“We have 15 Saturday’s of minor-round cricket, which is plenty when you consider there is representative cricket and T20 cricket on top of that.”
