In recent years Veterans cricket has been growing quickly. It is the fastest growing sector of Cricket Australia and in the Brisbane and Redlands regions there are currently 8 over 50s teams playing in the winter months.
A very successful Over 40s Competition has run on the Gold Coast for over 10 years. Last season.Gold Coast had 25 teams.
Veterans cricket provides players with the opportunity to gain a Maroon cap as part of the Queensland team to compete at the National Championships. From there they can be selected for the ultimate honour of wearing the Baggy Green and representing our nation.
So QSDCA will start an Over 40s competition this season 2021/22, to be run fortnightly on a Sunday.
Games will be limited over matches of 45 overs per side. Only a few slight changes to the standard rules would apply. These would be the ability to play 12 players and batsmen retiring at 50 (with the ability to return).
We would like clubs to identify if they would be interested in hosting an over 40s side this season. It is envisaged that there would be just one grade this year, but that could change depending on how many teams nominate.
This competition has the potential to be the premier over 40s competition in Queensland, and potentially a source of new players looking to return to the game.
Ideally clubs would seek to “bring back” past (retired) players that no longer want to play every weekend. Every club will have plenty in this situation.
A secondary by product of having these older players associated with your club is the greater pool of potential committee members and volunteers for things like grounds, pitches and coaching juniors etc.