There has been no shortage of news to emerge from Cricket Shepparton this week.
Following on from Monday night’s annual general meeting, it was announced president Brandan Reilly has stepped down and will be replaced by Narelle Claney, while a submission to join the league has been lodged by Eastern Hill Cricket Club.
Reilly assumed the presidency in May 2022 and will return to an executive committee role, meaning Claney becomes Cricket Shepparton’s first female president.
As for Seymour-based Eastern Hill, the club presented its case to the Cricket Shepparton board at the AGM, with Reilly explaining the situation.
“Eastern Hill Cricket Club had an opportunity to come along to the Cricket Shepparton AGM on Monday night just gone, to present their proposal and take any questions, queries, concerns and feedback from clubs,” Reilly said.
“Eastern Hill seem like they’re in a position down in the Seymour league where it doesn’t seem to be progressing forward, there’s been a bit of a decline in numbers down that way in the last couple of seasons.
“Eastern Hill are a very successful team based out of Kings Park, so they’re looking to come into Cricket Shepparton to not only better themselves, but to provide sustainability and longevity moving into the future.
“Clubs will have their opportunity to submit their vote to Cricket Shepparton and Eastern Hill will find out at a presidents’ meeting on Monday, July 10.
“We will have a definitive decision by then whether Eastern Hill Cricket Club will be coming into Cricket Shepparton or not.”
In the proposal, Eastern Hill stated it would seek to field teams in Cricket Shepparton’s A, B, D, under-16 and under-14 grades, with the club able to join as soon as next season if a majority vote was passed by current clubs at the July 10 meeting.
Reilly indicated the submission was met by a mostly warm reception, with the main concern being travel time for players.
“Personally I think it’s a really good thing … I think it would be amazing for Eastern Hill to come into Cricket Shepparton and bolster our numbers not only in Cricket Shepparton, but provide an opportunity for other clubs to face new challenges as well,” Reilly said.
“They bring a fairly handy senior list in and, obviously, a strong junior program as well.
“I don’t think there’s any drawbacks at all, I think it’s really positive.
“The one thing from Monday night’s AGM was our furthest distance club was more than keen to see the expansion out to Seymour.
“When they’re backing the decision as well, I think it’s really positive for the league – it shows us that we’re moving in the right direction and everyone’s keen to challenge themselves.”
Eastern Hill’s A, B, and C-grade sides made finals in last season’s Seymour District Cricket Association, while the junior outfits were competitive.
A-grade captain and vice-president Seamus Feery was one who presented the case at the AGM and was eager for the club join Cricket Shepparton’s ranks.
“It’s obviously not a guarantee that we’ll be accepted, but we’re trying to put our best foot forward and see where it lands,” Feery said.
“We’ve been around for 60 years and we want to be around for a long time into the future as well.
“We’ve fielded A, B, C-grade and under-15s and under-13s for the last two years, and we want to be able to provide a platform for our juniors and seniors to play good competitive cricket going forward.
“We think that’s our best opportunity at that (moving forward) across all facets.
“We understand that there might be difficulties, but we’re pretty keen for it to go ahead.”