The Central Otago men’s comp is due to start this Saturday with Queenstown Cricket Club fielding two adult teams — ‘Coronet’ and ‘Remarkables’ — and a senior reserve side comprising Wakatipu High’s top players.
The long-running Wednesday six-a-side comp’s scheduled to start next week with a few spots still up for grabs.
And the six-team T20 comp’s expected to start next Friday.
Club manager Emma Campbell says a record 250 juniors have registered, up from 240 last year.
"We’re probably down one or two hard-ball teams but we’ve actually got strong teams.
"And we’ve had growth in our growth area which is soft-ball cricket, so 5- to 8-year-olds."
Aside from the weather dampening enthusiasm, Campbell says "a lot of parents and kids have had long winter sports seasons, rugby and football tournaments have still been going, and it’s sort of really affected cricket".
She explains the high schoolers are playing senior reserve, down a grade this season, to accommodate their younger players.
And she points out both senior teams are evenly matched with Indian cricketers sprinkled between the two "to build our communities together".
Campbell say it’s good for the club to have contracted Otago player Mason Clarke and Toby Hart and Hugo Bogue, both named in the Otago A preseason tour squad, come up through the ranks.
In terms of sponsorship, she’s grateful to Bayleys and The Crown, and also to Hanley’s Farm developer RCL Group for providing training nets by the Jack’s Point oval.
"But we’re still looking for that big overall club sponsor."
She can be contacted via queenstowncricketclub@gmail.com
