He said while the competition had a relatively quiet off-season compared to the previous year – when Donald-Jeffcott, St Mary’s, Swifts-Great Western, Rhymney-Moyston and Halls Gap all joined the association – there had been plenty of positive progress.
“In review, last year was probably one of the better years yet for the Horsham Cricket Association,” he said.
“There was lots of change in a very short period of time, but the outcomes were really strong.
“It’s now just about building upon that really strong base and keeping a great sport thriving.
“We’ve had just a few little tweaks to some bylaws and how we approach cricket, but no major upheaval.
“From a league perspective we’re just trying to communicate well, communicate in advance and trying to be as collaborative and open as possible. Hopefully that leads to continued improvement.”
The A Grade competition will look much the same as last season, with 10 teams including the new-look Southern Mallee Eagles, formed from the union of Brim-Kellalac-Sheep Hills with Beulah and Hopetoun.
The competition will commence with a round of one-day games on Saturday, with reigning premier West Wimmera hosting Lubeck-Murtoa at Davis Park, Nhill, while 2025-26 one-day premier Noradjuha-Toolondo will play Southern Mallee Eagles at Noradjuha Recreation Reserve.
Other matches will see Horsham Tigers host Laharum at Horsham’s Dimboola Road Oval, Colts on the road against Swifts-Great Western at Stawell’s Central Park and Homers welcoming Donald-Jeffcott to Sunnyside Recreation Reserve.
Rounds two through seven will feature two-day matches, with three more one-day games in January following the Christmas-New Year break and three further two-day matches in rounds 11, 12 and 13 to close the home-and-away season.
Caccaviello said the biggest changes would be in junior grades, with three new teams joining.
“We still have the three junior competitions – under-16.5, under-14 and under-12,” he said.
“We’ve got a couple of additional teams, which is great.
“We’re welcoming a Swifts-Great Western team into the under-16.5 draw, a Southern Mallee Eagles team to the under-14 draw and a St Mary’s team to the under-12 draw.
“We had the senior integration of those teams last year and now we’re starting to get that junior integration, so it’s superb news.”
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