IT’S official, the Portland and Hamilton District Cricket Associations are set to amalgamate ahead of the 2023-24 season, after all Portland clubs voted in favour of the move in a meeting on Monday night.

It’s a relatively quick turnaround for what is such a seismic shift in the structure of cricket in the region, with discussions around a potential move only having been set into motion after the conclusion of the 2022-23 PDCA season.

Discussions around combining the associations have been raised at other times in recent years, but certainly not to the extent of clubs casting a formal vote on the matter.

Hamilton president Lloyd Ilett said he was “pleasantly surprised” with how positive the meeting was, with all clubs reportedly enthusiastic about getting on board.

“They were wholeheartedly in favour of going forward with the amalgamation… it was a very quick meeting with only a couple of clarifications required,” Ilett said.

“The HDCA had only planned on accepting a proposal if all clubs game along… we didn’t want to wreck the game in Portland… and we certainly never approached any of the PDCA clubs about leaving Portland.

“This was an initiative which was set in motion by Portland Tigers who approached the HDCA about joining the competition and the rest of the clubs decided to do so as well.

“For this season we’ll remain under the HDCA banner, but I think in the future the likelihood is that will change.

“This makes us one of the largest associations geographically, not just in country Victoria but also in Australia.”

For his part, Portland president James Cannon said it is an exciting move which has the potential to create greater interest in cricket in the region.

“All clubs are on board… it’s fantastic to see everyone adapting to something new.”

A new structure

The amalgamation will significantly change the A grade competitions, with Ilett explaining that the new version would be divided into two pools.

“There will be a total of 12 teams in A grade, the five Portland sides and the seven Hamilton sides,” Ilett said.

“The teams will be divided into two pools, with three Hamilton and three Portland in one, and two Portland and four Hamilton in the other.

“Teams will play every team in the other pool and four out of five teams in their own pool in the one-dayers, and they’ll play the other teams in their own pool in the two-dayers.”

The B grade competitions in the respective associations will remain largely unchanged, with Ilett saying the major change the addition of a so-called “super grand final.”

“The clubs will play their normal B grade season, and the respective victors will be crowned as premiers in their own right, and from there we’ll have a match between the winners of the Portland and Hamilton comps,” Ilett said.

The aforementioned geographical reach of this new competition has been caused arguably the most concern among both the Portland and Hamilton cricket communities.

However, both presidents sought to ease those concerns, saying there will still be opportunities to play cricket for those with travel concerns.

“With B grade staying in Portland it gives clubs more chance of retaining players who just want to have a game on a Saturday and not have to drive too far to do that,” Cannon said.

“It also gives our juniors a chance to play senior cricket (in B grade) and develop their skills.”

Ilett said it had been an issue which was also raised amongst the Hamilton contingent but added that it was one that was relatively straightforward to settle.

“A similar thing popped up when Casterton combined with us in 2015… at the end of the day some of our clubs are already travelling a decent distance to play cricket,” Ilett said.

As for the draw, Ilett said that while it remains in the “early stages,” it looks as though all teams will have to travel to the other town for roughly six or seven days out of the season.

Format

The format for the home and away season is set to be 10 one-day matches and five two-day matches, with the A grade grand final to be played at Monivae College and the B super grand final to be hosted by Portland, most likely on a turf wicket.

Additionally, Cannon said Portland will hope to host its own Twenty20 competition.

“(A local tournament) would help reduce travel… with HDCA playing (its Twenty20 competition) on Thursday nights it would be too tough to get players to travel on a weeknight,” he said.

The issue of turf versus hard wickets was also raised, with Ilett saying he hopes to play as many matches on turf as possible but added that he did not want to disadvantage teams without turf.

“There are sides in both Portland and Hamilton who don’t have a turf wicket, and obviously they still have the right to host their fair share of matches at home,” Ilett said.

Overall, both presidents expressed the view that this should be taken as a positive step forward for both associations in its totality.

“I think most clubs would (say) it is beneficial… it gives the younger players who might have potentially left, to a bigger league, the chance to stick around and perform,” Cannon said.

“That’s something I’ve seen happen lately, is good players leaving which in turn is a negative to the league… this should give those players a league they can thrive in and develop into the best cricketers they can be.”

For his part, Ilett said; “it’s a great opportunity for teams and players from both associations to play against people they don’t know.

“You’re not going to show up every week knowing exactly how each guy plays and what you’re going to do, and I think that has to be exciting.”

Despite the amalgamation, Ilett said Portland will still retain the right to have its own representative side which they will be able to send to Country Week tournaments.

At this stage, junior cricket is set to remain in Portland under its current format and will continue to host under-13 Country Week.

Discussions will continue between clubs and associations in order to sort out the finer details of the amalgamation, as Victorian cricket also handles the online transition away from MyCricket and onto PlayHQ.