Reduced teams in Division 1 sees a powerhouse miss out
Melbourne Country Week cricket has undergone significant change ahead of the 2024 tournament with one powerhouse relegated to the second tier. See all the changes and the fixture.
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Ballarat is one of three teams who will have to fight their way back to Division 1 of Melbourne Country Week after being relegated following changes to the competition structure ahead of this year’s event.
The Victoria Country Cricket League (VCCL) has released fixtures for the tournament, which starts in February around Victoria.
There will be 18 associations competing in two division.
But one of the powerhouses of the competition, who started Country Week more than 100 years ago, won’t be in Division 1 after Ballarat was relegated to Division 2 after the top competition for this year was reduced from 10 teams to eight.
Ballarat, who finished eighth last year on net run rate over Traralgon, were relegated alongside Latrobe Valley and Bairnsdale.
Traralgon are also out but the association has merged with Latrobe Valley to be one team, which will compete as Latrobe Valley in Division 2.
Warrnambool and Wangaratta, who finished first and second in Division 2, have been promoted to Division 1 to take the seventh and eighth spot.
It now means there will be eight teams in Division 1 and 10 teams in Division 2.
VCCL president Kelvin White said the changes were made to create some movement and incentives between the two divisions.
White said this year two teams will be relegated from Division 1 with the two teams who make the final in Division 2 to be promoted.
In Division 1 there will be eight teams split into two groups of four.
Last year’s champions Ferntree Gully takes on Geelong, Warrnambool and Leongatha in one group with Sale Maffra, Wangaratta, Bendigo and Mornington Peninsula to compete in the other.
The top two in each group, after facing each other once over the first few days of the competition, will then take on the top two from the other group to decide the grand finalists.
First in Blue Pool takes on the second in the White Pool with the other fixture to be the reverse with first in White Pool taking on second against the Blue Pool.
In Division 2 there will be nine teams and Victorian Premier Cricket club Kingston Hawthorn involving its under-18 side.
White said the VCCL tried to get a country association to field two teams to avoid a bye.
“We’ve given Kingston Hawthorn the 18th spot,” he said.
“We just didn’t want to see a side sit on their backsides during the tournament with the bye.”
Teams in Division 2 will play four round robin games with the top two to face each other in the final.
Teams who finish third and fourth will play each other to claim the Division 3 title.
Finals will be held on Friday, February 16.
The tournament starts on February 12.
Division 1 fixtures
BLUE POOL
Monday, February 12
Ferntree Gully v Leongatha (Casey 4)
Geelong v Warrnambool (Geelong)
Tuesday, February 13
Ferntree Gully v Warrnambool (Camberwell)
Leongatha v Geelong (Schramms 1)
Wednesday, February 14
Geelong v Ferntree Gully (Caulfield)
Warrnambool v Leongatha (Brighton)
WHITE POOL
Monday, February 12
Mornington v Sale Maffra (Frankston)
Bendigo v Wangaratta (Greenvale 1)
Tuesday, February 13
Sale Maffra v Wangaratta (Kew)
Bendigo v Mornington (Schramms 2)
Wednesday, February 14
Mornington v Wangaratta (Cen Res Nth)
Sale Maffra v Bendigo (Brunswick)
Division 2 fixtures
Monday, February 12
Ballarat v Maryborough (Eastern Oval)
Casey-Cardinia v Hawks U18 (Walter Galt)
Bellarine v South West Cricket (Kardinia West)
Latrobe Valley v Bairnsdale (Bayswater)
Sunraysia v Hamilton (Carlton)
Tuesday, February 13
Ballarat v Casey-Cardinia (Port Melbourne)
Hawks U18 v Bellarine (Williamstown)
Maryborough v Sunraysia (Greenvale 1)
Bairnsdale v Hamilton (Coburg)
Latrobe Valley v South West Cricket (Footscray 1)
Wednesday, February 14
Maryborough v Hawks U18 (Essendon)
Bellarine v Bairnsdale (Spotswood)
Sunraysia v Casey-Cardinia (Oakleigh)
South West Cricket v Hamilton (Northcote)
Latrobe Valley v Ballarat (Elsternwick)
Thursday, February 15
Latrobe Valley v Hamilton (Trott)
Casey-Cardinia v Bellarine (Donvale)
South West Cricket v Maryborough (Greenvale 2)
Bairnsdale v Sunraysia (Greenvale 1)
Hawks U18 v Ballarat (Moorabbin)
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