Centennials Bulls withdraw from 2022-23 Bathurst Orange Inter District Cricket season

The Bathurst club made the hard call to withdraw from BOIDC this week, a decision club president Shannon Dawes didn't take lightly.

He said the club ultimately had "little choice" to withdraw its first grade team.

"We don't really have the depth in the lower grades to cover our shortages in first grade," he said.

"Although we've been short at the start of the season, we were hoping to bring back a few players but we've suffered a few major injuries in recent weeks, which will leave us well short.

"There just wasn't enough players to cover our injuries and not enough in second grade to bring them up into first grade."

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But it's not all doom and gloom for Centennials, with Dawes confident that his club will field a team in BOIDC for the 2023-24 season.

"Everyone is committed to playing with us next season," he said.

"We've just got to do a bit more of a drive in the off-season to bring a few extra numbers. You can't really run with a neat 11 in first grade. You need to have a few extras to cover you with injuries like this.

"We are confident of getting the numbers for next year. We're starting straight up next week, putting the wheels in motion to get our team ready for next year.

"It's disappointing. Was it something we wanted to do? No, but when we looked at every avenue, we had to pull the pin.

"We had a meeting on Wednesday night to discuss the issue with the players. We'll probably save ourselves a bit of respect by not dragging the matter on any further."

Dawes said Centennials didn't enter a Bonnor Cup team this season, in order to focus on first grade.

"We were confident of putting a team in at the start of the season, so that's why we pulled out of the Bonnor Cup, so that we could concentrate on first grade," he said.

Dawes said while Centennials' financial position is strong, it is lacking in the junior department, with no sides in any junior grades.

"We need to shift our focus to the grass roots," he said.

The Bathurst club is fielding a team in Bathurst District Cricket Association second grade and presidents cup competitions.

Dawes said he had been in conversation with BOIDC president Mark Frecklington, who said players registered with Centennials may be able to play for different clubs during the 2022-23 season, before returning to Bulls.

Frecklington confirmed whoever was scheduled to play Centennials will now have a bye instead, but he was yet to confirm how many points a team would receive for a bye.

There will now be nine teams in BOIDC for the rest of the season.

Centennials had only played just the one game in BOIDC this season, last Saturday against Orange City in a five-wicket defeat at Morse Park 1.

Centennials had been scheduled to play Orange CYMS, Cavaliers and Rugby Union in the opening three games, but all three games were abandon due to wet weather.

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