Twenty20 vision a clear winner
March 07, 2007
Section: Sport
TWENTY20 cricket is the best thing the South Coast Junior Cricket has done in years, according to Association secretary Bruce Babcock.
Mr Babcock was speaking about the inaugural South Coast under 14 and 16 competitions, which wrapped up recently.
Oak Flats defeated Kiama in the under 16s decider while Kiama A tasted defeat in the under 14s at the hands of Shellharbour City.
"I believe Twenty20 is a great thing for the game, we have been overwhelmed by the response of the parents and players," Mr Babcock said.
"It"s a great attraction for the under 14 and 16 age groups where we have major problems with kids dropping out of the game.
"This is the type of thing that"s going to keep kids enjoying the game.
"It"s an exciting format and we have learnt so much from it."
It is hoped a 10/10 midweek competition will be introduced for the under 10 and 12 age groups next season.
Games would be ten overs each, with each player except the wicketkeeper bowling an over. Wides and no-balls would not be rebowled. Batters would retire after facing 15 balls or scoring 20 runs.
The games would feature a baseball-style batting order, with not out batsmen from the proceeding game opening the innings in the next match.
It is hoped the competition will be played midweek on a round-robin basis.
Meanwhile, Oak Flats are the inaugural A-Mart All Sports Senior Twenty20 champions after defeating Lake Illawarra by six wickets at Gerry Emery Oval on Sunday.
Earlier, Lake Illawarra defeated Warilla Sports and the Rats banished Kiama in the semi-finals.
South Coast seniors secretary Dave Yates said the Board was looking at finetuning the twenty20 concept for 2007-08.
It is hoped next year"s competition will be played over two weekends as a curtain raiser to the season proper. Playing the competition early in the season will help avoid clashes with representative cricket, Mr Yates said.
The South Coast board will also look at expanding the competition to 12 or 16 teams. There are no plans to expand the competition to minor grades.