NIRRANDA Knights president Michael Walsh believes the acquisition of a turf wicket home-base in Port Campbell is a shining light for the club’s future.
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As a result of the move, Nirranda has all but secured its future in division one and is set to host the first fixture at the ground just after the festive period.
The Knights last season explored the option of installing a turf pitch at the Nirranda Recreation Reserve but were forced to shelve the proposal due to the cost and state of the dairy industry.
However, Walsh and the club committee headed south in search of a solution, and after a host of positive meetings with the in-recess Port Campbell Cricket Club and recreation reserve committee, found an answer.
Walsh said the facilities at the currently out-of-use reserve were “outstanding”, and that the club was grateful for the support it had received from the Warrnambool and District Cricket Assocation (WDCA) and its clubs.
“It will come up nicely. There’s no sport being played on it at the moment, so it is a little rough. But when it warms up, it is going to look fantastic,” he said.
“The locals tell me that it is always green, that there are no flies and that the sea breeze arrives at about 2pm every afternoon, so it’s never going to be hot.
“The facilities down there are magnificent. There is a basketball court, a beautiful kitchen space and it’s about 20 minutes from Nirranda. We’ve got families and both junior and senior cricketers that coem to play here from around there too.”
As a part of the plan, the Knights’ division three outfit will continue to play home fixtures at the Nirranda Recreation Reserve.
Walsh said the club hoped to draw support and players from the surrounding Port Campbell region.
“We have to look outside the box and continue to grow. It’s the way football and cricket is now and sitting back and doing nothing is not going to do any good,” he said.
“We’ve been able to beat sides from Warrnambool out on our hard wicket, but we tend to find that we get beaten if we go to play them on the turf because we aren’t used to it. We don’t want that to happen anymore.
“This could really be the making of our club.”
Walsh said the support of the Port Campbell Cricket Club, recreation reserve committee and WDCA general manager Michael Harrison had been “fantastic”.
