Euroa cricket club gears up for another successful season

NOW that the weather is warming up and the football boots are off, thoughts are turning to cricket. Euroa Cricket Club is gearing up for the upcoming season with the senior competition commencing next Saturday October 8, weather permitting. Junior competition will start the following week on Friday and Saturday October 14 and 15. Last season Euroa Cricket Club had three senior teams in the Cricket Shepparton Association and two junior teams. The two junior teams made it to the finals, with the U16 winning the premiership. U16 co–coach Tomas Fogarty says he is looking forward to working with this year's team, aiming for back–to–back success. Euroa CC also had a veteran's team last season who competed in the Veterans Victoria competition. Players 60 years of age and over are eligible to play in this comp with the team was made up of new and retired players. The fitness and agility of these players has developed over last season, and they are looking to build on last year's growth. Veterans cricket is the fastest growing section of cricket, and anybody interested in playing should contact the club. Euroa Cricket Club continues to cater for all ages and genders starting at five years of age with the Woolworths Junior Blasters program, and from then players eight years of age move to an intra club comp. Both of these groups will start on Friday October 21. These young players start to develop their skills before finally joining the junior competition teams and then onto senior teams. Many of the junior players play senior cricket at the same time as playing junior games. This leads to the development of junior players, and they gain invaluable experience from playing with senior players. State–wide, Cricket Victoria said there is over 211 000 registered players of all ages with over 28 000 of them being female participants. Once again last season, the club had a number of junior players playing at representative level. Club president Lucas Paul said this is an important avenue for them to display their skills and gain experience outside the club environment. This is part of Cricket Victoria & Cricket Australia's developmental pathway and who knows where this could lead for any of these young players in the future. Practice for the various groups is held on several nights, junior coaches Owen Robertson, Tomas Fogarty and Lachie Cooke said U14 and U16 have begun on Tuesday nights at 4.30pm. Seniors are training on Thursday nights from 5.00pm and Veterans train on Saturday morning and Wednesdays. The club has a team of volunteers who have commenced working on the ovals to bring them up to standard for the upcoming season. A lot of work and many, many hours go into ground preparation and the standard of the grounds attests to their dedication. The club is very lucky to have the use of several ovals if they are needed and this is unique in the Cricket Shepparton competition. Euroa Cricket Club is very fortunate to have a wide range of people volunteering to help in many roles backed by supportive sponsors. Cricket Victoria said there is in excess of 15 000 volunteers helping out in various roles in the many registered clubs. Euroa Cricket Club is a thriving club with a child safe and inclusive environment. If you are interested in being involved either as a player or a support volunteer, please reach out to the club. You don't have to be a player to be involved, just a love of the game. Look for our weekly write ups in the Euroa Gazette, find us on social media or contact the club direct on euroacc323@gmail.com. The club looks forward to a season of success and fun.