By DAVID NAGEL
COUNTRY Week… it’s that Monday to Friday in February when the state’s best country cricketers converge on metropolitan Melbourne to lock horns against the best from around Victoria.
It’s a concept that began in 1922… but is it time for a change?
The first ball will be bowled in the 2015 edition of the event on February 9, and once again the very best players from the West Gippsland Cricket Association will represent our league with pride.
Well most of them will anyway.
For some, Country Week is a burden, a week off work, a loss of income, a financial drain, and for what… the chance to play on turf pitches on fine grounds, against tough opposition, but basically in front of nobody.
Isn’t Country Week supposed to shine the spotlight on our best players and showcase country cricket at its finest?
The answer is yes, but the majority of country cricket lovers who work Monday to Friday don’t get to see it.
And it’s not just some players and spectators who would prefer a change.
The WGCA board, not exactly flush with cash reserves, has already forked out over $6,000 on accommodation, throw in a bus to cart the players and staff around, player uniforms, a few free drinks here and there, umpires, and new cricket balls, and the costs start to rise.
With a dozen people watching the games each day, attracting sponsors is hardly a snack either.
And curators at the city grounds would much prefer to be preparing their pitches for a regular Saturday fixture, instead of watching the country folk trample their pride and joy. Another inconvenience!
So what is the answer?
We’d like to propose Country Weekend.
A similar set up to the interleague concept in football where all country leagues in the state take a weekend off to showcase the best players from their respective regions. The rankings are already in place, it would just be a matter of restructuring things to suit the new concept.
Country Weekend would see the 26 teams split into six groups of four, with the bottom two teams fighting for the right to enter the main draw for the following year.
The top ranked association in each group would host the event, a Saturday-Sunday carnival with two games played on each day. Saturday would see one-versus-four and two-versus-three, with the two winners being promoted to Sunday’s final and to the higher division for the following year.
Saturday’s two losers would be relegated to the lower division, but become the highest ranked participants, thus vying for the right to host the carnival the next year.
All four games in each division would have meaning.
Sure, associations like the WGCA play on synthetic pitches, not turf, but hosting the event on a surface that is relevant to our competition can’t be a bad thing can it?
Imagine the crowds, imagine the atmosphere, and imagine the money that could be saved by players and associations, and the cash that could be made by the hosts.
The players won’t miss work, won’t miss a weekend of cricket and there great skills could be appreciated by those they represent. It could become Melbourne Cup weekend for cricketers, with players and supporters joining forces, whether home or away, to show what their associations are all about.
It’s just an idea!
CURRENTLY – COUNTRY WEEK 2014
PROVINCIAL
Mornington Peninsula (1), Geelong, Bairnsdale, Bendigo, Murray Valley, Sale-Maffra, South West, Leongatha.
DIVISION 2
Warrnambool, Traralgon, Ballarat, Ferntree Gully, Hamilton, Mornington Peninsula, Yarra Valley, Benalla.
DIVISION 3
Warragul, Sunraysia, Goulburn Murray, West Gippsland, Wangaratta, Gisborne.
DIVISION 4
Colac, Shepparton, Seymour, Central Gippsland.
PROPOSAL – COUNTRY WEEKEND
DIVISION 1:
Mornington Peninsula (1), Geelong, Bairnsdale, Bendigo.
DIVISION 2
Murray Valley, Sale-Maffra, South West, Leongatha.
DIVISION 3
Warrnambool, Traralgon, Ballarat, Ferntree Gully.
DIVISION 4
Hamilton, Mornington Peninsula, Yarra Valley, Benalla.
DIVISION 5
Warragul, Sunraysia, Goulburn Murray, West Gippsland.
DIVISION 6
Wangaratta, Gisborne, Colac, Shepparton.
DIVISION 7
Seymour, Central Gippsland.
