SACA wants a merger to reduce number of clubs as Port, West Torrens and Woodville face scrutiny

THE SA Cricket Association has reinforced that it wants a merger to reduce the number of Grade clubs from 13 to 12, rather than to cull a team from the competition.

Port Adelaide and Woodville are two of the three clubs SACA is considering removing from the Grade Cricket competition ahead of the 2016/17 season. The other is West Torrens. Picture Simon Cross.

THE SA Cricket Association has reinforced that it wants a merger to reduce the number of Grade clubs from 13 to 12, rather than to cull a team from the competition.

SACA last month told Woodville, Port Adelaide and West Torrens they were under consideration to be removed from the A grade from 2016/17 because there were too many clubs in Adelaide’s west, given the area’s demographics and population projection.

West Torrens and Port officials initiated merger talks last month but Woodville was initially frozen out of discussions.

Peckers chairman Tim Pillion said his club had a coffee with an Eagles representative last week but it was a breaking of bread, not a merger discussion.

SACA chief executive Keith Bradshaw said a merger between two of the three clubs being targeted was the association’s preference and a “path of least resistance”.

“There are clubs that are having informal and maybe some having more formal discussions about potential mergers,” Bradshaw said. “We have been in constant contact with a number of clubs trying to facilitate that.

“It’s very important to us that we don’t get that leakage of players and I’m certainly very mindful of clubs histories and traditions, which I think can be better served by going through a merger.”

The move to streamline the Grade competition follows years of discussion by SACA and the 2014 release of the Zadow report, which suggested ways to improve the standard of the competition.

The Zadow report recommended SACA reduce the number of clubs from 13 to 10 but Bradshaw said that would be detrimental to game development.

He could not guarantee the competition would remain at 12 teams because “there’ll be chief executives and boards that come in after me and this board”.

“We’re very comfortable with the 12-team concept and that’s the direct we’re heading ... because we think it serves the interests of cricket in South Australia best,” Bradshaw said.

Bradshaw said the advantages of having 12 teams, rather than 13, also included removing the weekly bye, reducing the number of Sunday games and aligning with the Adelaide Turf Cricket Association’s fixture.

He said SACA might offer financial assistance to help with a merged club’s potential relocation costs or ground upgrades.

The three clubs will present their cases for survival or plans for a merger to the SACA board on February 29.

Bradshaw could not give a time frame for a decision on the new Grade competition structure but said SACA wanted one made “as quickly as we can”.