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THE Bendigo District Cricket Association will gauge the interest from its clubs about the potential to incorporate Twenty20 games into its season-proper.
The BDCA has a target start date of Saturday, October 3, for its 2020-21 season, with the association now working through the structure of the fixture.
The BDCA in recent years has fixtured a season based around clubs playing nine two-day games and four one-day matches, while also running a Twenty20 competition separately.
There has been a suggestion though from some clubs for the BDCA to consider incorporating Twenty20 games as part of the season-proper.
Given there is an interest from some clubs for the change, BDCA secretary Travis Harling has developed a fixture model that would add five Twenty20 matches as part of the home and away season alongside the existing nine two-day games and four one-day matches.
How the five Twenty20 games could be added into the fixture:
* Each team plays its first T20 match as a stand-alone midweek game at the QEO over a period of five Tuesdays and Wednesdays in December.
* The first two Saturdays post the Christmas/New Year break could be set aside for Twenty20 double-headers where each team plays two games per day.
Each team's opponents for the Twenty20 matches would be the five teams they don't play in a one-day game.
If this fixture structure was to be adopted it would mean all teams would play each other once in a two-day game and once in either a one-day match or a Twenty20 contest.
By adding in two Saturdays of Twenty20 double headers, it would require one Saturday/Sunday two-day game to be fixtured, plus adding in one extra Saturday, meaning the grand final would be pushed back to the final weekend in March and therefore, the reserve day would be removed.
As well as the option of bringing Twenty20 games into the season-proper, clubs are also being asked to consider the points allocation within the competition.
"We've found a way with our fixture that we can schedule in nine two-day games, four one-dayers and five Twenty20 games that is an option for the clubs to look at," Harling said.
"The next question then is how do you want the points to run?
"Do you only want the two-day points to count towards the two-day final in March the same as only the one-day games count towards the Keck-Findlay Shield one-day final and only the Twenty20 games count towards the Bendigo Advertiser Shield T20 final?
"Or do you want the March two-day final to be all encompassing with the nine two-dayers, four one-dayers and five Twenty20s?
"That hasn't be decided yet, but the fixturing is the first point to see where all the clubs sit in regards to that."
* Last season's grand final winners:
Premiers - Strathdale-Maristians.
One-day - Strathdale-Maristians.
Twenty20 - Huntly-North Epsom.
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