The Association hosted its annual general meeting on Wednesday, August 18 with all teams in attendance as the look of the 2021-22 season took shape.

During the evening all teams were asked to nominate teams (senior and junior) for the upcoming season, with just three teams nominate for A Grade and 10 for B Grade.

Swifts-Great Western, Buangor-Tatyoon and Youth Club nominated for A Grade, while the other teams nominated for B Grade.

The league said this was not a realistic option for the competition, with the board reconvening on Wednesday August 25, where they decided there would be a six-team A Grade and six-team B Grade competition.

Chalambar and Halls Gap would be moved into the A Grade competition and Pomonal will remain in the division.

READ MORE:

Grampians Cricket Association president Marc Brilliant said the new structure of the competition was important for its future.

"We felt this was the best way to maintain the integrity of the competition in both grades and continue a tiered competition as has been done in the GCA for over 50 years," he said.

"The relegation system was then effectively put in place meaning Chalambar, as the reigning B Grade premier was promoted up and St Andrews, as the last placed team in the A Grade, was relegated for this season.

"All teams were contacted and were understanding with the decision, realising the board had the integrity and the best interests of the competition in mind.

"Halls Gap were approached as they had two B Grade teams last season and were happy to step back up which gives the A Grade competition six teams."

The league said several different options for the season were discussed before they settle on to the two-tiered promotion system.

"A range of options were presented on the night including a one-tier competition and a seeded competition that would both ultimately have a ladder-split at Christmas to play the remainder of the season as a A and B grade based on ladder positions," Brilliant said.

"It was found with the one-tier competition there will be a decrease of teams, which we felt as a board that if it was implemented, we would never go back to a tiered competition and would have nothing to fall back on.

OTHER NEWS:

"In coming years this may be an option whether by choice or as a forced decision, but for now and the foreseeable future we felt an A and B Grade competition would be best for all involved."

The league are also working through their fixture plans for the 2021-22 season.

The league confirmed the season would commence on Saturday, October 16 (a week later than normal) due to potential football finals fixturing.

Draws for the season will be presented at their next delegates meeting.

The board are also working on alternate fixtures in case COVID-19 hits again.

One initiative with the draw is to implement two COVID-19 byes, which will be free weekends for the league to use if rounds need to be moved due to lockdowns.

The first five rounds will be T20 games for points, with the top-two teams after these rounds playing for the Henry Gunstone Cup. Rounds of one-day games will be played from then on to complete the season.

The league also confirmed strong junior numbers for the season with six under-16 teams and eight under-13 teams nominated, but all need to be confirmed in coming weeks.

"The juniors have been a major focus of the league over the past few seasons, so this is great for the work that's been completed," Brilliant said.

A Junior AGM will be held in coming weeks.

Finally, the Grampians Cricket Association filled their Board roles for the 2021-22 season.

Marc Brilliant was elected president, with Travis Nicholson the vice-president.

Youth Club's Nic Baird will be in the secretary's role with Andrew Oddie as treasurer.

Brett Chamming will be the junior vice-president, replacing Geoff Phillips.

Luke Stevens, Gary Hannett and Andrew Wood are general members of the committee.

If you can see this message, you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Stawell Times-News, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and for allowing us to continue telling Stawell's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great town.