The Geelong Cricket Association is standing firm on its promotion and relegations stance despite concerns from several clubs.
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Association president Rob Vines told this publication it would stick with its “holistic” reshaped model that was introduced for the 2022-23 season, which included a fourth division.
The association traditionally had an annual promotion and relegation process based on two-year rolling average assessment data.
However, Vines said the association had gone back to “ground zero” with its relegation and promotion methodology, following the addition of an extra division and a “modified” 22-23 season due to unprecedented weather.
The league would gather another season’s results before implementing the annual process once more.
GCA president Rob Vines said there would be no relegation or promotion ahead of the coming season. Picture: Peter Ristevski
“There will be no movement of clubs for the coming season,” Vines said.
“We kind of went back to ground zero again on the two-year cycle.
“For the next season, the annual relegation-promotion process will resume.
“We’ve just completed one season of the new two-year cycle, we need to complete the second season so we’ve got the two-year rolling average data.
“So we suspended promotion-relegation at the end of last season, that will resume at the end of the next season.
“That’s all been explained to the clubs when we implemented the reshaping plan 12 months or so ago.”
However, Vines admitted the league’s “relatively unique methodology” had ruffled a few feathers with some clubs.
“There are one or two clubs who feel they performed very very strongly in the first year … who would like to be promoted,” he said.
“But we’ve said no, we’re sticking to the plan and it would be unfair to clubs who are not prepared for relegation to have a club promoted mid-cycle.”
Murgheboluc Cricket Club, which was relegated in the reshuffle ahead of the 22-23 season, went on to win premierships in the GCA2 and 3.
Club coach Dan Grozdanovski said he fully understood the association’s position despite not agreeing with it initially.
Murgheboluc coach and bowler Dan Grozdanovski said the club had focused on the benefits of having no relegation or promotion. Picture: Mark Wilson
“It has given us a good opportunity to really build a solid foundation over two years so that hopefully if we get the opportunity to go back to Division 1 that we are prepared and can challenge some of the stronger teams,” Grozdanovski said.
Waurn Ponds-Deakin president Daniel Breen said the club was preparing to play GCA4 despite its first and seconds divisions team winning the premiership and not losing a game after the Christmas break.
Vines said the league’s two-year rolling average system had been in place for about 10 years, and basing it on one season’s results was not adequate.
“It does cause some controversy from time to time,” he said.
“The level of knowledge clubs can have of how the system works can wax and wane over time as leaderships change within club.
“That corporate knowledge can be lost and you have to re-educate.
“But generally speaking it’s an accepted system.”
He said the GCA avoided the traditional method of promoting or relegating individual teams.
“We don’t do that here because we’ve got so many clubs,” he said.
“It’s too difficult to operate it that way.
“It would be unfair to base that movement on one season’s result.
“Abnormal things can happen, clubs can have an abnormally good or abnormally poor seasons.
“We think it’s a better sample size and a fairer representation of clubs.”
Meanwhile, the GCA is also hopeful of unveiling its grand plans for Geelong cricket after Covid and unprecedented wet weather impacted the last three seasons.
“This season coming we’re very hopeful we’re going to see the full implementation,” he said.
“The four divisional structure plus the balanced draw of one and two day cricket and we’ll have our seperate T20 competition, which we did manage to eventually have last season, but later in the season than we’d originally planned for.
“Last season ended up being a modified season, unfortunately.”