NMCA Cricket: Preston YCW District drops out of Jika Shield
A club which contested finals last season will not compete in the North Metro Cricket Association Jika Shield competition in 2020-21. Here’s why.
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Preston YCW District will contest the third tier of the North Metro Cricket Association this season after a player exodus.
The Roosters finished fourth in the top-flight Jika Shield competition last summer despite having two wins stripped for fielding unregistered players.
But following a semi-final exit, the club will rebuild in Kelly Shield after waving goodbye to several players.
No official clearances have been filed for the players departing, but NMCA general manager Neil Riley confirmed Preston YCW District would not compete in the top grade this season.
“A lot of their First XI players from last year have elected to move on,” Riley said.
“No one seems to know where yet, but they’ve moved on.”
With perennial contender Rosebank crossing to the Diamond Valley association, last season’s Quick Shield premier Northern Socials and Keon Park have been promoted.
“They were pretty much the two dominant teams in Quick Shield last season,” Riley said.
“They’ll make themselves fairly competitive in that environment.
“Keon Park have picked up a couple of good players. They reinvigorated themselves a bit last year with a few younger players who came back last season. They were more than competitive against Socials, and Socials were the dominant team in Quick Shield, but Keon Park matched it with them in the home-and-away series. We think they’ll both fit in pretty well.”
Rivergum, Cobras, Holy Trinity, Cameron, Preston Baseballers and Heidelberg West make up the eight-team Jika Shield.
Heidelberg West was given a relegation reprieve after claiming one victory last season, finishing six points behind Baseballers.
“Heidelberg West were given the option to stay up or go down, and they thought it’s always harder to go back up,” Riley said.
“On paper last year, they were probably the youngest Jika Shield team with an average age of about 24 or 25.”
Riley said Rosebank’s exit would provide “other teams an opportunity” to have a shot at the ultimate prize.
Preston Footballers and Strathewen have been promoted to Quick Shield.
The NMCA is eyeing a November 14 start and 14 one-day home-and-away matches for its top-three grades this season, with finals to be played under the same format.
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