Club revolt forces major Cricket Gold Coast backflip, resignation of three board members

A CLUB revolt has forced a major Cricket Gold Coast backflip and prompted the resignation of three long-serving board members.

A CLUB revolt has forced a major Cricket Gold Coast backflip and prompted the resignation of three long-serving board members.

Less than six weeks after announcing they would stick with their divisive limited-overs format for next season’s Kookaburra Cup, CGC have begun drafting a combined one-day and two-day competition for 2018-19.

With initial plans for an expanded, 45-over one-day competition to remain in place in favour of two-day action, the Bulletin understands two clubs led a push to form a rival CGC committee ticket.

Having gained support from a number of other clubs and with concerns over plans to cut into junior playing times, the action eventually forced the resignation of committee members Warwick Glaves, Stephen Fildes and Gary Stimpson.

Steve Litherland, Guy Diven and Darren Santer are in line to replace them at the Annual General Meeting in late August or early September.

Cricket Gold Coast president Dean Johnson.

The change to one-day fixtures was made last season amid uncertainty over the availability of grounds in the lead up to the Commonwealth Games, but it proved a polarising issue among the 11 first grade clubs.

While disappointed at how the recent drama had played out, CGC president Dean Johnson said the result was “a positive for the association”.

“What’s happened is that the competition is now going to be a mixed or hybrid format,” he said.

“There’s still going to be a T20 pre-season tournament for the first three weeks in September and then the Kookaburra Cup will be made up of two-day and one-day games. There’s three formats so everyone gets a bit of everything so that’s a good thing for the association.

“The seniors will start at 12.15pm, the same time … and junior cricket is going to start at the same time as well. We’re getting a group of players and a couple of board members to come together and there’s going to be a rules committee, so they’re going to have a say in if there are any rule changes in the two-day comp, as well as the one-day comp.

Darren Santer is in line to join the Cricket Gold Coast committee.

“What we tried to do as a board was resolve the issue so everyone was happy as much as they could be.”

Johnson, who will enter his third and final season as president in 2018-19, said the departure of Glaves, Fildes and Stimpson was a “shame” but was now looking to the future.

“Having new board members with new ideas is obviously going to help and move Cricket Gold Coast forward. That’s definitely a positive.

“It’s a shame to see a few of these other guys go who have been on there a long time, especially the Life Members (Fildes and Stimpson), but in the end it is what it is. There’s still a number of board members who are still on the board who were on there previously.”