VICTORIAN Premier Cricket (VPC) co-ordinator Peter Binns has urged south-west cricket fans to get behind the 2013 country round.
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VPC clubs Footscray-Edgewater, Essendon, Prahran and Geelong will converge on the region for what will be a Twenty20 bonanza on December 7.
They will play at Avery’s Paddock in Port Fairy and an unconfirmed Warrnambool venue, with two matches at each venue throughout the day.
Binns said four teams playing in the south-west meant cricket fans could catch the action whenever they were free during the day.
“Twenty20 is the flavour at the moment. It’s a part of the competition now,” he said.
“The fact it’s compressed into a short period of time means people have choices they can make.
“They might want to go and have a look at the first game and do something else in the afternoon, or vice-versa.
“It’s pretty popular — not with everyone, but we felt Twenty20 is a bit more of a carrot for people to come and have a look.”
The opening matches start at 11am, with Geelong taking on Prahran in Warrnambool and Footscray-Edgewater meeting Essendon at Avery’s Paddock.
The second lot of matches start at 3pm. Geelong plays Essendon in Warrnambool and Footscray-Edgewater faces Prahran at Avery’s Paddock.
There will be no Warrnambool and District Cricket Association (WDCA) matches on that weekend.
WDCA chairman Nick Frampton said the matches were a coup for south-west cricket fans.
He said Melbourne Renegades and Melbourne Stars cricketers could play in a bid to be ready for the Big Bash League, which starts a week later.
“We’re hopeful there will be some drawcard players,” he said.
Frampton said at least one of the clubs would remain in Warrnambool to run a community engagement session on December 8.
“All of the sides that will be coming down will be making people available to work with potentially our development squad or Western Waves squad members,” he said.
“It may even take the form of a larger In2Cricket session.”
Warrnambool and Port Fairy have a history of welcoming VPC clubs to the region. Merrivale Recreation Reserve was the venue when Geelong played Camberwell Magpies in 2010-11 and Carlton in 2011-12.
Reid Oval and Avery’s Paddock have also hosted VPC matches over the years.
afawkes@fairfaxmedia.com.au
