ADCA 2024-25: Green and sticky wickets to feature in highly-anticipated opening round of the A-grade season

Green-tinged and sticky wickets will provide plenty for the bowlers in the highly anticipated opening round of the Albany and Districts Cricket Association A-grade season this Saturday. Reigning premiers Royals will lock horns with Mt Barker in a salivating grand final rematch on Turf North while Railways take on Collingwood Park on Turf East with both matches starting at 12.15pm. All senior grades this season will don full-coloured kits and play with white balls in an exciting move to align with the WA Country Cricket Board’s major changes mooted earlier this year and officially ratified last week. Despite the lush grass-covered wickets and rain predicted in the days leading up to round one of the 2024-25 season, City of Albany curator Brett Wolfe is “100 per cent” confident that he and apprentice Billy O’Meara will deliver games come Saturday. “One-hundred per cent chance (we will have games this weekend),” Wolfe said. “The weather is saying one or two millimetres, so they’ll be right. “(The wickets will) be pretty docile I think, they’ll have a tennis ball bounce because they’re a little bit soft. “Yeah, they’ll be a bit soft and sticky, especially if we get a couple of millimetres here or there. “We’re pretty confident.” Collingwood Park and Denmark will square off in B-grade on Turf South at 12.30pm while the remainder of the B-grade and C-grade will commence their seasons on Saturday. The under-17s competition began last Sunday, now falling under the senior cricket management and the ADCA executive, while the association’s under-12 and under-14 competitions kick off this Saturday.