NOW to sometime later in the year (maybe) - Talk about anything

[revo333]

The way the winds are blowing, it wouldn't be a shock if the BHRDCA folded in the next 10-20 years with clubs dispersing to the RDCA, ECA and the other nearby associations.

What are the reasons behind this?

Being an outsider looking in , I watched a few mates play in grand finals 20 odd years ago and thought the standard was very good and at the time probably a little bit better than the RDCA.

Do they still play Saturday/Saturday grand finals? I always found that a bit weird.

 

[Bowlers Name]

What are the reasons behind this?

Being an outsider looking in , I watched a few mates play in grand finals 20 odd years ago and thought the standard was very good and at the time probably a little bit better than the RDCA.

Do they still play Saturday/Saturday grand finals? I always found that a bit weird.

The biggest issue for the BHRDCA is the demographics shift that's been happening. The East Asian community which has a significant and growing presence in the BHRDCA heartland don't have much of a passion for cricket (or footy for that matter) and so the numbers tend to be weaker for the junior pathways. On top of that, a lot of the junior players in the area have school cricket taking priority over club cricket, putting even more of a strain on junior participation numbers. BHRDCA hasn't had a Saturday morning junior competition since 2018/19, and moved the remaining grades to Friday evenings.

The movement of Vermont and Heatherdale across to the RDCA for 24/25 wasn't a great advertisement for the standard of competition in the BHRDCA. Obviously the strength of a 1st XI can change from year to year, particularly when changing association, but Vermont went from finishing runners up in the BHRDCA top grade in 23/24, to missing out on finals in the RDCA second grade in 24/25.

Cricket Victoria has their strategic planning to consolidate the metropolitan associations into a simple North, East, South and West region. While they received heavy pushback from the associations to put the handbrake on that, allowing the BHRDCA to naturally drop off does help push towards that plan. There was certainly a bit of chat this season, particularly from Heatherdale and Vermont people, that there were more BHRDCA clubs watching very closely how things went and considering their own futures.

Saturday/Sunday finals are pretty standard for local cricket. There were some oddities this year with rain, heat offs and reserve days (or lack thereof) but any two day game tends to be played Saturday/Sunday.