Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
AFTER one season in hiatus, the Northern United Cricket Association's most successful team of the past decade - Dingee - is returning to the field.
In a major boost for the NUCA, which was set to be just a five-team competition this season, the Blowflies have re-formed for 2020-21, lifting the competition to six sides and removing the bye.
Dingee last played in 2018-19, winning the premiership, but disbanded last season due to waning interest and too much being left up to too few.
"When it came time to front up for last season, Scott (Lawry) and myself had been doing the majority of the leg work, but we had to take a step back, so we put it to the group that we needed someone to take over the captaincy, organising the ground, curating the pitch and all that work and there wasn't much interest from anyone else," Dingee's Darran Lawry said this week.
"Along with that we had people starting to get tired of cricket, there were a few blokes who weren't going to play, so the buy-in wasn't there when it was needed.
"With the numbers dwindling it got to the point where we reached the decision not to go around and so we pulled the pin."
But disbandment last season, coupled with the cancellation of this year's football season due to COVID-19 and a desire for players to get back into sport again has fueled the return of the Blowflies.
"Everyone is sick of being stuck at home with nothing to do, so to be honest, the situation with COVID has probably helped us get the club back going again," Lawry said.
"The boys have got itchy feet to get back out and start playing some sport again.
"We first flagged it about a month ago with the group. We were able to get some traction in terms of numbers and we've got 15-16 who are willing to play each week, so we've not enough numbers to make it work.
"The numbers we've got are as good as we've had for a long time."
The majority of the 2018-19 premiership team is set to pad up again for the Blowflies, while the likes of Daniel Thiesz, Andrew Nisbet, Nathan Ryan, Adrian Carr, Nathan Cail and Ash Austin are also set to play throughout the season.
"To take a bit of the pressure off, what we're going to do is play away games every week, so we won't have a home ground," Lawry said.
"One of the main concerns for us was organising the ground each week, which was getting harder because a lot of us live in Bendigo."
Anyone interested in playing with the Blowflies this season can email scottandally10@hotmail.com
The NUCA will play a 10-round home and away season starting on Saturday, November 7, with each team to play each other twice.
A three-week finals series will start on February 13, with the season to conclude with the grand final on Saturday, February 27.
NUCA 2020-21 FIXTURE
ROUND 1
Saturday, November 7
Elmore v Dingee
Heathcote v Calivil
Colbinabbin v Goornong
ROUND 2
Saturday, November 14
Calivil v Elmore
Goornong v Heathcote
Dingee v Colbinabbin
ROUND 3
Saturday, November 21
Elmore v Goornong
Heathcote v Colbinabbin
Calivil v Dingee
ROUND 4
Saturday, November 28
Colbinabbin v Elmore
Dingee v Heathcote
Calivil v Goornong
ROUND 5
Saturday, December 5
Elmore v Heathcote
Colbinabbin v Calivil
Goornong v Dingee
ROUND 6
Saturday, December 12
Dingee v Elmore
Calivil v Heathcote
Goornong v Colbinabbin
ROUND 7
Saturday, December 19
Elmore v Calivil
Heathcote v Goornong
Colbinabbin v Dingee
ROUND 8
Saturday, January 23
Goornong v Dingee
Colbinabbin v Heathcote
Dingee v Calivil
ROUND 9
Saturday, January 30
Elmore v Colbinabbin
Heathcote v Dingee
Goornong v Calivil
ROUND 10
Saturday, February 6
Heathcote v Elmore
Calivil v Colbinabbin
Dingee v Goornong
NUCA PAST DECADE (2010-11 - 2019-20):
TEAM RECORDS
CALIVIL
Played - 141
Won - 63 (44.6%)
Flags - 2012, 2015
.............................................
COLBINABBIN
Played - 144
Won - 71 (49.3%)
Flags - nil
.............................................
DINGEE
Played - 137
Won - 86 (62.7%)
Flags - 2016, 2017, 2019
.............................................
ELMORE
Played - 145
Won - 59 (40.6%)
Flags - 2020
.............................................
GOORNONG
Played - 136
Won - 54 (39.7%)
Flags - nil
.............................................
HEATHCOTE
Played - 118
Won - 67 (56.7%)
Flags - 2013, 2014, 2018
GRAND FINALS:
2011 - Bagshot 7-155 def Kamarooka 52
2012 - Calivil 7-113 def Kamarooka 112
2013 - Heathcote 7-211 def Dingee 205
2014 - Heathcote 3-116 def Bagshot 114
2015 - Calivil 5-167 def Colbinabbin 114
2016 - Dingee 2-83 def Goornong 8-81
2017 - Dingee 9-156 def Goornong 8-116
2018 - Heathcote 7-93 def Bagshot 92
2019 - Dingee 8-152 def Elmore 54
2020 - Elmore 2-89 def Colbinabbin 9-88
If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Bendigo Advertiser, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thankyou very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Bendigo's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.
