Fresh from its successful two years in Brisbane and inaugural year in Adelaide, the newly named Century Cricket Competitions (formerly the Australian
Premier League) will now venture to Melbourne in December 2023.
For its first year, the Melbourne competition will focus on male and female junior players across eight privately owned franchise teams. The Brisbane and Adelaide competitions have shown that adding this tournament to the cricketing calendar creates another valued opportunity for all players to showcase their talent.
Stuart Giles, Chair of Century Group confirmed: “We are very excited at Century Cricket Group to be expanding our footprint to offer Victorian junior cricket lovers the same unique cricket experience we have already delivered to well over 1,000 junior cricketers elsewhere in Australia. As exhibited by our recently
opened 24/7 Century Cricket Centre in Blackburn, innovation and enjoyment continues to be at the forefront of all we do at the Century Cricket Group as we look to focus on everything that is good for cricket, 100% of the time.”
Century Cricket Competitions aim to give players the chance to be what they see and experience everything that short-form, private franchise cricket has to offer.
Eight privately owned franchises will make up the Century Cricket Competition Melbourne for the 2023 season which will be announced in the coming weeks. With community at the core, along with learning and development, all franchise owners will pick a team via a draft system, similar to that of the AFL. This process will ensure an even balance of talent and promise and a more level playing field with tighter matches giving all junior players a chance to take control of the game.
Franchise owners will be able to create their own culture, pick and develop players how they want to and play the fast-moving style of cricket they watch around the world and want to play. The result is a fun, familyfriendly festival-style event that can be enjoyed by all.
All players selected for a team will be able to emulate their heroes by playing with coloured clothing and white balls to a ground filled with enthusiastic and vested supporters. This will be a chance for them to make their mark in previously uncharted waters and to play with others they might usually compete against or have never crossed paths with before.
“I’m extremely excited to be able to launch the Melbourne arm of our competition in the junior space. Off the back of a successful Brisbane and Adelaide campaign, I cannot wait to see the talent on show and the brand of cricket these young Victorians will play. The opportunities for young players to play more cricket if they choose to, and further develop their skills, ensures that the cricket community is continuing to thrive. Administrators, coaches, players, umpires, scorers and clubs will continue to see the benefit of this event through more opportunities to develop their craft in their chosen discipline all while adding into the Victorian cricket ecosystem,” said Joel Hamilton, co-founder of the Century Cricket Competitions.
Player nominations will be open soon with the competition taking place during the December school holidays. Details about both of these will be announced in the coming weeks.
Australian history is steeped in the game of cricket. Century Cricket Competitions is both aspirational and rewarding at the same time providing legitimate resources to a traditional volunteer organised sport and injecting much needed capital and support into the game at the levels below professional cricket. This
competition shows the power of cricket in its purest form.
Note to the Editor
Century Cricket Competitions is part of the newly formed Century Cricket Group and backed by former Australian & Queensland legend Ian Healy AO, former England A captain, author, presenter and commentator Mark Nicholas, healthcare entrepreneurs and co-founders of Icon Cancer Group, Epic Pharmacy Group and the Epic Good Foundation Stuart Giles and Cathie Reid AM and cricket entrepreneurs Joel Hamilton and Nick Fitzpatrick.