Cricket returns to the Clarence
By Tim Howard
The sound of leather cracking on willow returns to the Clarence Valley this weekend with a full round of two-day games in the Clarence River Cricket Association mixed first grade competition.
Premiers Harwood host Coutts Crossing at Harwood Oval on Saturday looking to kick off the season in style.
The perennially strong Harwood outfit returned to Clarence cricket last season after competing in the North Coast Premier League and immediately made their presence felt.
Tucabia Copmanhurst and GDSC Easts clash at Ulmarra Showground pits two traditionally strong clubs against each other.
It was only two seasons ago that East swept all before them to snare a premiership and Tucabia have been regular premiers in local cricket for a decade.
At CRCA HQ, Ellem Oval, South Service/Westlawn will need to pull out all the stops to beat last season’s beaten grand finalists, Lawrence.
South’s whose merger several season ago with arch rivals Westlawn is still in place, have had a roller coaster run in recent times, winning a premiership during Covid, losing a grand final due to rain and most recently picking up a wooden spoon.
Lower River club Lawrence joined the CRCA first grade competition last season and like fellow down river side, Harwood, made an immediate impact.
Perhaps it was not surprising as the top order of the club includes several former Harwood players who brought with them competitive instincts that have inspired its success.
The downside of for local cricket is the continued absence of the Brothers Cricket Club, which folded early last season when it could not find enough players to fill teams.
At the time CRCA president Anthony Dickson noted that clubs were finding it difficult to field teams across all grades.
The fixture list for the lower grades of the CRCA competition appear to bear this out not with some clubs entering teams only in the second and third grade competitions.
