AN even playing field will greet A grade teams when the Grassmere Cricket Association (GCA) 2015/16 season kicks off this Saturday.
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The association has released its draw with the season split evenly between all three formats of cricket.
The opening five games of the season will be Twenty20 fixtures followed by five one-dayers and then five two-day games to finish the home-and-away campaign.
The GCA will operate with a reduced number of A grade teams with six sides to compete following the withdrawal of Mailors Flat and Wangoom due to a lack of player numbers. Both clubs will remain active and will field teams in the lower grades.
Last season’s B grade premiers Woolsthorpe had hoped to step up to the top level but will stay put in the second tier.
A promotion system has been put in place by the GCA executive with any team making a grand final without having a team in the grade directly above them expected to move to the higher grade the following season.
GCA publicity officer Jason Elliott said the association is being proactive in ensuring a strong future.
“Losing two A grade teams isn’t ideal but with the promotion rule we have in place we are encouraging and supporting clubs to field an A grade team,” Elliott said.
“We are getting on the front foot in shoring up the competition for the future and having a pathway for clubs to follow.
“We don’t see any point of making clubs have an A grade team that is getting thumped each week and could be done by Christmas.
“This way those clubs can go back and re-build through the lower grades.
“With the Sunday C grade competition we brought in a few years ago it still means we have as many teams as ever before, its just that they are spread between three instead of two grades.”
A meeting will be held to set the fixture for the B, C and supercolts grades which are expected to start on the final weekend of October.