Women’s cricket will be changing in 2025-26.
Cricket Shepparton has elected to pull its teams from the established Goulburn Murray Cricket Women’s competition and will forge its own path in a separate league.
The women’s league was a uniquely formatted competition that fell under the Goulburn Murray Cricket banner but featured clubs affiliated with GMC, Cricket Shepparton and the Murray Valley Cricket Association.
Of the 11 teams in the 2024-25 women’s competition, four will now return to Cricket Shepparton as it looks to get its own league off the ground: Mooroopna, Shepparton Youth Club United, Nagambie and Kyabram.
CS made the call at its annual meeting in late May.
GMC operations manager James Stokes said the league supported Cricket Shepparton’s decision to withdraw its teams from the combined league.
“We think when you look at the demographics of how it's operating at the minute, for (Cricket Shepparton) to have its own competition is probably a better thing for regional women's cricket,” he said.
“If we had all stayed together, it was probably heading that way anyway because any more new sides from over there was only going to strengthen a north-south thing anyway.
“While there wasn't too much discussion between the associations, we've always been supportive of them starting their own (league) and we've always been supportive of the things that they want to put in place.”
The GMC women’s competition will now continue with the seven remaining sides.
Five come from GMC-affiliated clubs: Echuca, Moama, Rochester, Bamawm-Lockington United and Cooma, while Murray Valley Cricket Association clubs Nathalia and Katamatite will also stay on board.
The changes to the make-up of the league have allowed for a more balanced format for the upcoming season, with teams to compete over 14 rounds, each side meeting twice and having two byes.
Another change this year will be more one-day games and fewer T20s based on a desire for more cricket from the player base.
It is expected the competition will feature 10 35-over rounds and four T20 rounds, a stark difference from 2024-25, which included just two 35-over rounds out of the 15 contested.
Stokes also suggested the possibility for special rounds, highlighting the MVCA derby between Nathalia and Katamatite on their clubs’ cricket spectacular day as a blueprint for other clubs to hold special events.
The flexibility of the shorter T20 format makes those rounds particular targets for night games and double-headers, and clubs were directed to brainstorm their own ideas for speciality rounds.
“I think overall, it's been pretty well taken” Stokes said.
“The only thing you can do is keep building.
“If you hit the skids, and you hit the panic button, you go backwards pretty quick.
“I think it's all positive, and I only see positives in it.
“I think it's made our competition overall more even, it's made the draw a bit better, and I think the clubs have really enjoyed that they get to pick their speciality round, so I think it will be better for us.”
GMC announced last year that the men’s competition would be doing away with two-day games in the new season, but Stokes indicated no additional changes were on the way.
The McMahon Shield A-grade competition is set to resume with the nine current clubs: Echuca, Echuca South, Moama, Rochester, Bamawm-Lockington United, Tongala, Kyabram Fire Brigade, Leitchville-Gunbower and Nondies-Cohuna all returning for 2025-26.