New junior cricket format earns a tick
CRICKET: The opening weekend of cricket on the Darling Downs marked the arrival of Australian cricket's new junior formats, which mean children aged 9-12 years now play on grounds with shorter pitches, smaller boundaries and fewer fielders.
The new stage 1 and stage 2 junior formats are especially tailored for the physical capabilities of children, so they're no longer expected to bowl on adult-sized fields or defend the same sized boundaries as senior cricketers.
They will also use age-appropriate equipment, including smaller cricket balls they can grip properly.
Queensland Cricket regional development manager for Metropolitan South West and Darling Downs John Butterworth described the weekend matches he watched at Goondiwindi as "amazing.”
"Everyone was really happy with the formats,” he said.
"There are fewer wides - which we knew was always going to happen - and the trajectory of the ball was better, meaning it looked more like a senior cricket game.”
Toowoomba, Warwick, Goondiwindi, Chinchilla and St George were among the associations around the nation that agreed to adopt the new rules, and Butterworth said the feedback he received during the Darling Downs pre-season trials suggested the formats would be successful.
