Grampians Cricket Association has postponed the start of the 2019-20 season.
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The season which was to get underway on October 12, will now start on October 19.
Association president David Turner said the change come about due to Aradale requesting to move into the B Grade competition.
"On Saturday night I received a phone call from Aradale stating they didn't have enough players to make a competitive A Grade side," he said.
"They also didn't have the manpower to prepare the pitch.
"It would have meant they were relying on two or three people to do all the work."
Mr Turner said he understood Aradale would need junior players to make up a team.
"They are looking at three to five junior players each week," he said.
"Which is why they requested to move back to B Grade.
"The club felt, and the committee agrees, playing the juniors in A Grade would be a detriment to the player's development going forward."
Mr Turner said if Aradale were forced to field an A Grade side in 2019-20, there would be the possibility of a number of forfeits.
"This would be due to the format of the two-day games and it would filter down to the juniors as well," he said.
"Players wouldn't be available to play all weekend.
"The committee accepted the request after it was formally submitted to the association."
The decision to move the start date of the competition was decided on Wednesday afternoon.
"Many teams which were to have the bye in the first week had already planned to go away and we were looking at possible forfeits which would not be a great start to the season," he said.
"The committee decided it was in the best interest of the competition to hold off for a week and redo both A and B Grade draws from scratch, rather than amending what was already there.
"Despite the late start, the changes mean we will get more cricket in over the summer as teams will not have a bye."
Mr Turner said the new draws would see every team in A Grade play each other once in both formats while B Grade would not have a bye.