NIRRANDA Cricket club has moved a step closer to securing the long-term future of its top grade team.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Moyne Shire Council has agreed to lease the former Nirranda netball court facilities to the club for the next nine years at an annual cost of $104.
The club will use the facilities to service a new oval adjoining the site, this oval will have a turf wicket. Currently the club has only a hard wicket at its home base at the Nirranda Recreation Reserve. Nirranda has a division one team in the Warrnambool and District Cricket Association.
The WDCA requires teams that compete in division one to have a turf wicket available to play on, something Nirranda was unable to comply with last year. The executive of the WDCA afforded Nirranda some leniency last season, allowing it to play its home games on the hard wicket and will be expected to do so again this year.
“We are really confident of having the oval and turf wicket up not for this season but certainly the next,” Nirranda president Michael Walsh said.
“The WDCA has been wonderful to us, they have shown a lot of faith in our club and what we need to do to be where we want to be in the future.
“Having a turf wicket is very important, we have some great young players at the club and we want to keep them here.
“In the past we have lost some young players who left because they wanted to play on turf so hopefully having our own will stop that happening.”
The former netball court site has toilet, changeroom and canteen facilities that are serviced with water and power supplies.
The facilities mean the site would fill all the match-day requirements with after-match functions then moving to the Nirranda Recreation Reserve.
The club is currently in discussions with the adjoining landholder to lease three acres at the site to develop into the oval with the progress of these discussions described as positive.
In 2011 council valued the land at $120,000. But given the land is now farming zone that has been re-adjusted to $13,000.
The task of carrying out the ongoing maintenance of the new oval will be discussed between the club and council as part of lease conditions.
The plans for the new cricket facility is another boost for the area after the official opening of the Nirranda and District Community Centre in May.
Last season Nirranda’s division one team finished fourth in the Hopkins conference, winning seven games and losing eight.
They finished runners-up in division three, losing the grand final to Woodford. The future of the club is in a sound position, fielding teams in under 11, 13, 15 and 17 levels.
