Trevor Jackson
THE Mount Gambier and District Cricket Association has welcomed a new president for the 2022-23 season, with Dave Williamson taking on the role.
Williamson replaces the outgoing George Kidman, who nominated the new president, who is keen to get his hands into the job.
“I played my junior cricket at Yahl and into the seniors, then went to Uni,” Williamson said.
“I have been associated now with the Mil Lel Cricket Club for around five years.
“I am looking forward to it but it is certainly not without its challenges.”
Williamson spent a year on the executive committee before taking on the big role.
He said he was pleased Kidman was still involved.
“I would like to thank George for his time as president,” Williamson said.
“While he has stepped off from president, he is still on the committee.
“I would also like to thank Ken Fowles for his efforts over many years looking after the league.
“He is also leaving and he has been a long-time servant of the league.”
Williamson said he has a few areas he would like the executive to focus on, with one major role which will need to be filled for next year.
“A key area for us will be the turf pitches going forward into next season,” he said.
“Gary Ashby has indicated he will no longer prepare the pitches for next year, so as a committee we will need to have discussions and find a way forward for those wickets.
“That really affects the A Grade and B Grade competitions.”
One other major focus may take several years, but Williamson said it was important for the sport into the future.
“I would like to see us discuss ideas around an indoor training facility here and how me might facilitate that, not necessarily in one year or three years but maybe in five years,” he said.
“We need to have a long-term view on how we can do that.
“I think it is really important for our junior cricketers in particular, but also for seniors wanting to work on the sport during winter.
“If we want to have juniors going into the state representative forums, they need to be able to train and we need to attract quality coaches.
“We can only do that if we have good facilities.
“A senior competition is only going to be as good as its junior competition.
“If we can get our juniors up and about, keep them training and interested in the game over winter, it only helps our competition going forward.”
The main competitions in the region have been pushed back a week this season to allow the turf pitches to be prepared.
The recent rains and other logistics have not allowed that to happen fully at this stage. But Williamson said the draw can facilitate the changes.
He said with the usual six teams in the A Grade competition, he expected a good season.
“Numbers are looking good across the board,” Williamson said.
“We don’t have any grades dropping off.
“As always, the juniors at Under 12 and Under 14 levels are looking good, as we have seen in all competitions, the Under 17s is where we lose people, but at this stage that is looking good.
“The women’s competition starts on October 9.
“They have an eight-round season with semi-final and grand final, which is encouraging.”
Williamson said, as is usually the case, the association is seeking anyone interested in umpiring.
“We are always looking for new umpires, which is a paid position,” he said.
“We are about where we left off last season but we are always looking for new ones.
“The more paid professional umpires we can get the better.
“I think it just brings the game forward.”
Overall Williamson everything was in place for an entertaining summer of cricket.
The first Barber Shield clash will be a one-day match, with Penola to host North Sportsman’s, East Gambier at home to South Gambier and West Gambier to host Mil Lel on October 22.
The association will use both the MyCricket and PlayHQ apps this year.
Results will still be placed on MyCricket, while registrations are to be done through the PlayHQ app until all data is migrated across to the new platform.
