Ballarat T20 competition to expand

LOCAL cricketers can look forward to a little more Twenty20 cricket this season.

In a tweak to last year’s competition won by Ballarat-Redan, the Ballarat Cricket Association is poised to add a third round of matches to the competition.

Last year’s competition featured just two preliminary rounds followed by semi-finals and the grand final.

BCA administrator Paul Hayes said the extra round would cater for the growing demand for more T20 cricket among players.

“We just need to see how we can accommodate that in the calendar,” he said.

“The players love playing the T20s; it’s something they always look forward to being on the calendar.

“We are waiting to hear back from one club, but at the moment we are looking at having a 12-team competition, kicking off in November when the weather isn’t too bad.”

It’s anticipated matches will be played on Tuesday nights on 18 and 25 November and 9 December, with the semi-finals to be held on 20 January.

The grand final is again likely to be played on 26 January, with Eastern Oval the venue.

The format of the competition will include three pools of four teams, with the three winners and the best-rated second place team or ‘lucky loser’ advancing to the semis.

All BCA Premier First XI clubs are expected to be part of the action and will be joined by two clubs outside the top division.

Ballarat-Redan will start the competition as defending champions following their stirring win earlier this year over Bacchus Marsh.

It was the club’s first premiership in any form of First XI cricket in nearly two decades.

Bacchus Marsh would go on to win the First XI premiership – the club’s first in the BCA – while Ballarat-Redan wound up semi-finalists.

A few weeks into the 2025-26 season, Hayes feels the BCA is trending positively.

“Our competition is shaping really well. Our Premier First XI competition looks to be fairly even,” he said.

“At the moment there’s as many as eight sides that should be in the running at the end of the season and we’ve got good numbers through all our grades.

“We are slightly up on teams this year from last year, so that’s a real plus.

“And we’ve probably got a slight increase in our junior teams as well.”

Contributing to the rise in player numbers was the growing interest among the Ballarat region’s South East Asian communities and an

“We play nearly every night of the week now, so that creates an avenue for people to play, who’d normally have a clash with other sports,” Hayes said.

“You still have to play according to your capability, but sometimes a kid who can’t play under-15s on a Saturday can play under-17s on a Tuesday night, and under-17s who can’t play on Tuesday nights can play seniors on Saturday.

“There is always an opportunity there, even if you play another sport.”