CRICKET season is imminent and Freebody Oval is the place where Queanbeyan's summer will get underway this weekend, with three demanding home Twenty20 matches in two days to launch the competitive summer.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Bluebags will be out to avenge last season's Konica T20 Cup Final loss to North Canberra Gungahlin, when they play them first up on Saturday morning.
They then have a double header on Sunday, with matches against Albury and Ginninderra respectively.
The competition has been comprehensively restructured from last year.
Each team now plays three matches instead of four, despite being grouped into pools of five, and the two highest ranked teams from each pool playoff in a final.
Semi finals have been removed from the schedule.
Because of the short length of the tournament, batsman Dean Solway stressed the importance of getting off to a good start, and carrying that momentum through the weekend.
"You could win all three games potentially and not make the final," he said.
But Solway explained the competition's changes may be necessary, in order for Canberra's summer of cricket to have a balanced approach to the game's hectic schedule.
"I think the feeling was that the Grade Cricket Committee wanted to reduce the Sunday games, and they saw this format as a solution to reduce that," he said.
"I really like the concept of having the round games finished in a weekend but I'd like to see the semi final as part of the mixture as well."
However, it won't deter the Bluebags from hunting down the T20 title that they were so close to clinching last summer.
Changes to the squad will see the return of Vele Dukoski from last summer's stint at Eastlake, and Solway believes he will suit Queanbeyan's attacking approach to their cricket.
"We've got Vele and [Mark] Higgs. That's their game. Aggressive, quick runs, and they're handy one day bowlers as well," he said.
Solway also mentioned the possibility of Queanbeyan bringing in some marquee talent thanks to their relationship with Sydney club Manly-Warringah.
"We might be getting Adam Crosthwaite," Solway said.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Crosthwaite has experienced playing first-class cricket for South Australia and Victoria, as well as Big Bash franchise the Adelaide Strikers, making him a powerful addition to the Queanbeyan line-up.
