	{"id":125634,"date":"2026-01-08T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/?p=125634"},"modified":"2026-01-07T18:25:54","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T07:25:54","slug":"all-to-play-for-as-bpca-returns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/sport\/all-to-play-for-as-bpca-returns\/","title":{"rendered":"All to play for as BPCA returns"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>AS THE BPCA1 returns for 2026, every side still has a shot at playing finals with six rounds to go.<\/p>\n<p>The competition is as fierce as ever, with just two matches splitting second and eighth.<\/p>\n<p>As the league returns with one day clashes tomrrow (Saturday, January 10), Barwon Heads will look to maintain their undefeated start when they travel to take on the last-placed Inverleigh.<\/p>\n<p>Still not out of the finals race, the Kookaburras will look to steady and kick off the second half of their season positively.<\/p>\n<p>Drysdale will host Queenscliff in an intriguing fourth vs third clash.<\/p>\n<p>After a slow start, the Coutas can make it five straight should they topple the Hawks at home.<\/p>\n<p>Barrabool will host Jan Juc hoping to snap a two-game losing streak that has seen them move to seventh on\u00a0the ladder.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the second-placed Sharks can make it three-in-a-row with a<\/p>\n<p>victory and edge closer to a finals berth.<\/p>\n<p>Reigning premiers Armstrong Creek will host Anglesea in another important clash.<\/p>\n<p>Both sides sit at 3-4 and equally need a win to remain in touch with the top four. The Titans have dropped their past two, while the Kangaroos have dropped their past three.<\/p>\n<p>The BPCA2 is just as close on the ladder, with three games splitting first and last.<\/p>\n<p>Round 9 will see Newcomb host Ocean Grove, Collendina host Surf Coast, Portarlington host Winchelsea and Wallington host St Leonards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AS THE BPCA1 returns for 2026, every side still has a shot at playing finals with six rounds to go. The competition is as fierce as ever, with just two matches splitting second and eighth. As the league returns with one day clashes tomrrow (Saturday, January 10), Barwon Heads will look to maintain their undefeated [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/sport\/all-to-play-for-as-bpca-returns\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":249,"featured_media":125635,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-125634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>All to play for as BPCA returns - Geelong Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As BPCA 2026 returns, every side fights for a finals spot. Follow the latest Round 9 clashes and ladder updates for the cricket season.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/sport\/all-to-play-for-as-bpca-returns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"All to play for as BPCA returns - Geelong Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As BPCA 2026 returns, every side fights for a finals spot. Follow the latest Round 9 clashes and ladder updates for the cricket season.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/sport\/all-to-play-for-as-bpca-returns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Geelong Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-07T17:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/01\/9jan_wed_tng-24.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Paddy Sinnott\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Paddy Sinnott\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/all-to-play-for-as-bpca-returns\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/all-to-play-for-as-bpca-returns\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Paddy Sinnott\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c5dc7ac584e30473795132b06c507f60\"},\"headline\":\"All to play for as BPCA returns\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-07T17:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/all-to-play-for-as-bpca-returns\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":241,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/all-to-play-for-as-bpca-returns\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/9jan_wed_tng-24.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/all-to-play-for-as-bpca-returns\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/all-to-play-for-as-bpca-returns\\\/\",\"name\":\"All to play for as BPCA returns - Geelong Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/all-to-play-for-as-bpca-returns\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/all-to-play-for-as-bpca-returns\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/9jan_wed_tng-24.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-07T17:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"As BPCA 2026 returns, every side fights for a finals spot. 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