Cricket Victoria is hopeful North Ballarat’s senior departure is just a one-off

Cricket Victoria is confident the demise of a senior team in one of the largest clubs in the state will not be replicated in other areas. Find out why.

Cricket Victoria is hopeful North Ballarat’s departure from senior cricket for this upcoming season is not a trend other areas in the state will follow.

But the association admits Covid has had an impact on all competitions.

North Ballarat last week made the decision to withdraw from Division 1 in the Ballarat Cricket Association, citing lack of numbers.

The Roosters will field teams in the other divisions while focusing on building their junior base in a five-year plan to return to the top.

It comes as teams and associations around Victoria, country and metro, are planning for the 2022-23 season.

Cricket Victoria (CV) has recently released participation numbers for last season, the first since the Covid pandemic.

Citing strong participation numbers CV’s General Manager of Community Cricket David White said he believed North Ballarat’s circumstance would be a one-off and other areas will be okay.

“We hope and perceive this to be a one off,” he said.

“There are certain pockets that are having issues ... with participants and volunteers.

“Our data statewide shows a three per cent decrease in senior men’s and women’s (cricket) from pre-Covid to post-Covid.

“So we hope it will be a one-off.”

The findings from the census, conducted by CV, found 89 per cent of players have returned to play from before Covid in 2019/20 to last season – 2021/22.

From the 2019/20 season to 2020/21 there was a 59 per cent drop in participation, which means there was a strong improvement in the past 12 months.

Leading the charge are the women and the girls with more playing the game now than before the Covid pandemic.

There are almost 13 per cent more women and girls playing compared to 2019/20 and participation grew 74 per cent from the previous season, which was Covid impacted.

More girls are playing cricket in Victoria than ever before. Geelong City players last season celebrate a wicket against Lara. Picture: Mark Wilson

It’s not all good news for CV with the Woolworths Cricket Blast program for juniors down almost 13 per cent on pre-pandemic numbers.

CV concedes a whole generation of juniors could have been lost in the two years of Covid and now the association is planning on trying to stop the decline.

“Cricket Victoria’s strategic plan and Cricket Australia’s strategic plan is getting those from five to 12 years into the game,” White said.

“We need to fill the bucket from the bottom up.

“Once a player plays the game for three or more years they are hooked up for life.”

White added the competitive landscape, with basketball, soccer and AFL strong in getting juniors, has also been an issue for the association.

He conceded there could be a decline in numbers in the future, particularly among teenagers, but was hopeful a focus on retention would lessen the impact.

“You may see a decline (in numbers),” White said.

“But we are confident if we can focus on 5-12 year olds that decline won’t be significant.”

In the short term the focus for the association is making sure this season comes along and clubs can get back out and play.

White urged clubs experiencing difficulties to reach our to their CV regional manager. A link to those can be found here.

White said CV was in the final steps of prioritising its funding requests for the coming season and that country areas would receive strong consideration.

“We are working closely with Cricket Australia with multicultural and girls’ funding,” White said.