Veterans keen for new talent

VETERANS’ cricket is booming.

And the organisers of Geelong’s newly established over 50s side hope to take the sport to a new level this season.

Joining forces with Geelong Cricket Club in 2018-19, the over 50s side will venture into a maiden competition.

President David Roach is also hopeful of fielding two teams in the Veterans Cricket Victoria league.

“That’s what we’re aiming for,” Roach said.

“We’ve got about 20 on the books at the moment that are certain starters and we’ve got another seven or eight who have said they will play when they’re available.

“So we’re probably looking for another four to six players who are keen to play the majority of games.

“A lot of the guys are still playing on Saturdays with their home club and we’ve only just gone into a competition this year.”

Having played a handful of scratch matches in its inaugural year in 2017-18, the club will now enter the Melbournebased competition with one, potentially two outfits.

Roach said plans were also afoot to have a competition in the Western District, involving teams from a host of regions including Bendigo, Ballarat, Gisborne, Colac and Warrnambool next year.

In the meantime, Geelong will travel to Melbourne every second weekend, playing in suburbs such as Ringwood, Kew and Mitcham.

“With the growth of over 50s cricket, Victoria now pick a side to play in the national championships every year,” Roach said.

“The next national championships are in Brisbane on October 7 and there’s three sides that have been selected. We’ve got five or six Geelong players picked in that side, which is a great effort.

“I think we had eight or nine last year in Orange, and from that squad they will pick the first-ever Australian over 50s team to play in the World Cup in Sydney.

“There’s eight nations that have put their hand up to play, England being one of them.”

But the focus for Roach is locking in a second side.

“We need 24 full-time players. At our age there’s going to be a lot of soft tissue injuries and people have family commitments on Sundays and that’s why we want to get a core of players who are definite starters and then have eight to 10 guys waiting on the sidelines.

“There’s only seven games for the season and then we play a semi-final and a final.”

To join, head to the Sphinx Hotel on Sunday for the club’s sign-up day between 12-1pm.