United pull pin on first-grade cricket

CRICKET Far North officials spent yesterday redrawing the fixture for the summer after United voted last week to pull the pin on first-grade cricket.

The Cairns club had been struggling to be competitive in the top grade and United president Brent Madsen said it was the best thing for the club to withdraw.

“We made a decision at the start of the year to commit to having a first-grade team but we would have had a severely understrength side if we continued to play on,” he said.

“The player base just wasn’t there to be competitive in first grade.”

United have struck a deal with cross-town rivals Rovers to send some of their firstgrade players there.

“We have an arrangement with them to send any of our genuine first-grade players to Rovers,” Madsen said.

“Bobby Brix played there on Saturday and the likes of Linden March, Trevor Brady and Cam Davis could all play first grade there.”

Ironically, United’s only win this season was against Rovers in a Twenty20 match.

Madsen said United wasn’t going away as a club, but would build a plan over the next two or three years to return to first grade.

“We’ll still have a secondgrade side and we’ll get our third-grade side back. Our junior base is strong,” he said.

“We just need to build over the next few years and come up with a strong plan.”

United have struggled each year, losing good young players to other commitments, such as university.

“Other clubs are luckier and have tradies and locals who work in town, but a lot of our juniors end up moving away,” Madsen said.

Cricket Far North president Peter Huey said the withdrawal of United from first grade had thrown a spanner in the works, but said a new fixture had been drawn up.

“It’s never good to see a first-grade side pull the pin but we are lucky in that Cassowary Coast joined this year and we had seven teams,” he said.

“Now that we are back to six teams, there won’t be byes.”

Cassowary Coast were scheduled to play United at Griffiths Park on Saturday.