What Cricket Victoria’s revamped junior pathway means for talented kids
Victoria’s ability to produce talented young cricketers will be tested over the next decade after the state’s sporting body axed two levels of its Youth Premier League. And it could see some of our best kids slipping through the cracks.
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Victoria’s ability to produce talented young cricketers is set to be tested over the next decade after the state’s sporting body axed two levels of its junior pathway program.
Cricket Victoria’s under-14 and under-18 Youth Premier League competitions have been relegated to the scrap heap by a deep financial crisis and sweeping staff cuts at the organisation.
While CV plans to continue with the YPL’s under-16 boys and under-15 girls competition – possibly in 2021-22 after a hiatus next season – it is the roughly 680 young players that will suffer the most when they miss a chance to compete against the best players in their age group from across the state.
If the competitions indeed had to go because of financial pressures, CV high performance manager Dean Russ deserves credit for making the most out of a bad situation and his unwavering commitment to retaining a statewide pathway system.
As he puts it, “it doesn’t matter what postcode” you’re from, every young cricketer should be afforded the opportunity to display their talent.
But while there are other representative opportunities for kids to prove their ability, it is without a doubt the country kids who will suffer the most.
Metropolitan under-12 to under-18 association representative leagues – run by the Victorian Metropolitan Cricket Union in early January – are well organised and see more than 1300 boys and girls compete each year.
Naturally, junior country week competitions are less so, as associations are more spread out, teams have less players vying for spots and the travel journey to play is further and the costs associated with accommodation higher.
The country week competitions are also organised within the CV regions, which until recently had at least three paid staff in each.
With the reduced support from CV head office country associations will now be forced to rely more heavily on volunteers and parents to help organise tournaments.
Russ admits CV will be “stretched” with only 12 community cricket “field force” staff covering the entire state compared to 45 under the old model.
Victorian Country Cricket League president Kelvin White is cautiously optimistic.
He said renewed emphasis on junior country week competitions would be a good thing and the standard would increase with kids who have traditionally missed playing due to YPL commitments able to participate.
There is an opportunity for the VCCL to play a greater role in centrally facilitating junior country week carnivals, but again distance and resources will be a limiting factor.
CV has plans for a new Premier Cricket underage competition to replace the under-18 YPL, which would connect talented youngsters to clubs and help foster loyalty from an early age.
Russ said it would be like the “finishing school” to help transition juniors into senior cricket and would work well for country kids who aren’t in a position to commit to multiple weekly trips to the city at age 16, 17 or 18.
But remember Premier clubs all have differing levels of resources and some constantly struggle to remain competitive and fill four senior teams each week across the 17-game season.
Added to that is players will first need to make it to under-18 level after navigating a maze of association representative cricket, the YPL and other life challenges.
Without the yearly motivation of a statewide pathway featuring the best players aged 13-18, cricket will have to hope other sports don’t swoop in and take the best talent from a younger age.
Jack Paynter is a Leader newspapers journalist who represented the Mallee Murray region for seven seasons as a teenager in the Cricket Victoria pathway program.
MORE CRICKET:
CRICKET VICTORIA UNVEILS NEW JUNIOR PATHWAY
FULL INTERVIEW WITH CRICKET VICTORIA CEO