AFTER months of ongoing speculation the West Wimmera Cricket Association held a meeting last week to disband in favour of joining the Horsham Cricket Association.
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The team will enter the Horsham Association as the West Wimmera Warriors, the same name as the association’s juniors already play under in the under-16.5 competition.
Cricket director Ash Dickinson said it was sad for the competition to end after 83 seasons but it signalled the start of an exciting new chapter for cricket in the region.
“We battled on for as long as we could but it got to the point where we could not see much of a future,” he said.
“Hopefully this move will bring some more excitement to cricket in the area.
“We’re also looking to have a bit more a push for numbers within the junior ranks; I really think that having that direct link between junior and senior cricket in the same association will provide a definite path of progression.”
The Warriors will become the cricket division of the Nhill and District Sporting Club.
It will look to field teams in A and C Grade with numbers set to determine whether a B Grade side is entered into the competition for the 2018-19 season.
The team will be based at Nhill’s Davis Park with Sir Robert Menzies Park in Jeparit also available for home games if required.
Dickinson said an information night would be held on August 13 at the Nhill and District Sporting Club rooms from 7.30pm to assess the interest levels within the region.
“We need to gauge whether we will be able to have two or three teams,” he said.
“We want to welcome as many new and old players as possible.”
Dickinson was in attendance at the recent Horsham Cricket Association general meeting when the same board was re-elected for the coming season.
Association secretary Darren Chesterfield said it was important the opportunity to play cricket was still available for players in the Western Wimmera region.
“We look forward to their senior cricketers becoming part of the association to join the juniors who have already been here for a number of years,” he said.
“It should bring a bit more diversity to our association and I think it will only make our competition stronger in the long run.”
Chesterfield said there was a number of minor issues that would need to be managed in order to make the transition as smooth as possible.
“One of the big ones is managing where the junior team is playing in relation to where the senior teams are playing seeing as they will have more than one team,” he said.
“That is all very minor in comparison to what we have to gain out of the move.”
