Instead, along with ensuring organisations like Wangaratta District Cricket Association can get something as close as possible to a normal season up and running, Cricket Victoria will aim to create localised representative opportunities.
“Unfortunately circumstances won’t allow the Youth Premier League to take place this season, but we look forward to continuing to work closely with leagues to deliver representative opportunities where we can, while also providing access to our coaching and talent specialists,” Cricket Victoria chief executive Andrew Ingleton said.
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Coaching and talent development specialist for greater northern Victoria Shane Koops said strengthening the connection to Premier Cricket for talented regional players was still a major priority this year.
“With the program on hold for this season, we have a great opportunity to continue our alignment with regions and associations to ensure we build the base for future sustainability,” he said.
Koops said work was already under way to uplift the Junior Country Week programs across regional Victoria this season.
“We have plans in place to ensure the best players from the Junior Country Week programs are identified and challenged with further opportunities to showcase their skills in the back end of this season or ahead of the 2021-22 season,” he said.
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The YPL pathway system is set to be tweaked when it eventually returns in the 2021-22 summer of cricket.
“The Youth Premier League is a vital avenue for developing cricketing talent throughout the state and we’ll use this time to refine the competition to ensure it provides an even more valuable platform when it returns,” Cricket Victoria high performance manager Dean Russ said.
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