WITH the ground for next month’s Bendigo District Cricket Association first XI grand final still undecided, LUKE WEST yesterday spoke with the 10 clubs to gauge their interest in hosting the showpiece game on March 17-18 and why they would be a suitable venue.BENDIGO: “Atkins Street would be our preferred option, because realistically, there’s no way you could play a grand final at the QEO, which would be perfect on day one, but crack open the second. At Atkins Street, it’s one of the best surfaces in town, one of the best wickets and won’t have had all the play that the other grounds have had. There’s plenty of parking, facilities for the BDCA to charge to get in, a canteen, big scoreboard, good viewing for the players and spectators and a spot that would be perfect for the broadcasters.” – Tony Fitzpatrick (president)BENDIGO UNITED: “We’ve put a lot of work and money into our wicket square over the past couple of years. Our ground has good viewing and is in a central location and I think we did a successful job of running the grand final last year. We’d like the opportunity to host it again.”– David Bicknell (president)EAGLEHAWK: “We’re keen to have the BDCA grand final. We seem to be noted as the second best ground in Bendigo behind the QEO. Therefore, if the QEO isn’t going to be used we’d be thinking we’d be the next best selection. We’ve shown in the past an ability to cater for it, we offer good facilities and we’ve got a really hard working committee that would do a good job of hosting it. The ground is in good nick and we should have three really good wickets come finals time.” – Phil Kerr (secretary)HUNTLY-NORTH BENDIGO: “My first preference from a viewing perspective has always been the QEO or Eaglehawk, but we would love to have the grand final at Strauch Reserve. We’ve got plenty of shade underneath the big verandah and magnificent facilities as far as the social rooms are concerned, plus terrific women behind the scenes who can do a lot of catering. The wicket is holding up well, but the surface of the outfield is dry. But if they (the council) poured a heap of water on it in over the next two or three weeks it would come up a treat.” – Ted Tuddenham (president)GOLDEN SQUARE: “I’d love to host the grand final, but the reality is we have the most used ground during football season that is in need of some major works and at this stage our wicket table isn’t up to hosting a grand final. So on that basis we won’t be putting our hand up.” – Aaron Bentley (president)KANGAROO FLAT: “I wouldn’t nominate our ground for any grand final. At the moment we don’t have a good wicket table for a grand final.” – Travis Harling (president)SANDHURST: “Weeroona Oval should be hosting one of the senior grand finals. It’s enclosed, so the BDCA can charge the gold coin it likes to for the grand final. Scores have shown that the wicket is the best in Bendigo and has been getting better each year. And we’ve got the new rooms that have been built. Plus the ground is central, which makes it easier for those who want to have a look at a couple of different grand finals.” – Stephen Prowse (president)STRATHDALE-MARISTIANS: “Bell Oval is a good spectator ground that is good for families to go to with a bit of green grass around the place. The wicket has been consistent and pretty good all season, so we’d be very interested in hosting the grand final.” – Sean McCann (president)STRATHFIELDSAYE: “We would definitely put our ground forward for consideration for a grand final given that we’ve got the facilities and plenty of parking, plus two grounds where you could also have a junior final being played in the morning. The only negative from a BDCA perspective is there’s no gate, but I’d be happy to liaise with the board to cover the cost (of lost admission money) and throw it open for the public, because I think you’d get a big crowd if that was the case.”– Brent Yates (president)WHITE HILLS: “We’ve had a bit of drama with our wicket over the past 12 months or so. We’ve just replanted two wickets, the centre wicket and the one closest to the clubrooms, which we hope to use for the second XI game next round. If the new wicket plays well then we would probably put our hand up for a grand final. Certainly in the past, grand finals at White Hills have provided a good spectacle.” – Jock Schofield (president)