Vic Super Slam: Premier Cricket clubs concerned about demands
The introduction of the Super Slam — Cricket Victoria’s revamped Twenty20 competition — has several benefits, but clubs have some concerns.
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THE introduction of the Super Slam — Cricket Victoria’s revamped Twenty20 competition — has created a packed schedule and added strain for players and volunteers.
That’s the view of some influential club figures, who have been left concerned about the impacts of the extra demands in addition to a 15-round Premier Cricket home-and-away season.
One club committeeman declared “the commitment has become too large”.
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIC SUPER SLAM
The Super Slam, which started on November 25, features five rounds of mid-week fixtures, with the regular season wrapping up on January 15.
The semi-finals and finals in the Renegades and Stars conferences will be contested on Sunday, January 20 before the two winners advance to the decider at the MCG a week later.
The finalists will secure a ticket to the national T20 finals in Adelaide in March, with $20,000 in prizemoney up for grabs.
“The Vic Super Slam was created following a range of discussions with clubs that led to the suggestion of creating a T20 championship that is completely separate to Premier Cricket,” Premier Cricket manager Mike Ronchi said.
“Our Premier Cricket competition fixture takes precedence in the scheduling and therefore the Vic Super Slam was fixtured taking into account venue availability and avoiding as many Sundays as possible in order to manage player loads.
“The other key factor being the impact on volunteers’ time.”
The last day of Premier Cricket before the Christmas break is December 23 before the season resumes on January 13.
The 2017-18 fixture comprised 17 rounds, including four T20 matches.
They have been removed this season, along with the One Day final, to cater for the Super Slam, while the finals series has been extended to four weeks.
Marcus Stoinis (Northcote), Harry Gurney (Monash Tigers), Nuwan Kulasekara (Casey-South Melbourne), Craig Simmons (St Kilda) and Ben Dunk (Camberwell) are among the big names who have signed up for the Super Slam.
It also gives emerging players the opportunity to show their wares and potentially secure a contract in the thriving Big Bash League.
However, the packed calendar could result in some teams giving priority to their Premier campaigns and fielding below-strength line-ups.
“Naturally we’d like to see the best players in action but for various reasons that won’t always be possible,” Ronchi said.
“We also see the Vic Super Slam as a great opportunity for aspiring and talented T20 cricketers across the broader landscape to show everyone what they can do.”
Ronchi said there were no plans to fixture fewer Premier Cricket matches to free up the calendar.
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