Cricket: West Tamworth will not enter first grade team after losing players

Club vice president, Jack Mooney, said the committee's hand was forced as "safety [became] the biggest concern" following a spate of player departures.

"A lot of the guys we had last year have left the club," Mooney said.

"Some have left to Newcastle and other people have gone other ways, I think a few have gone to bush cricket.

"It came to a point where, with the skill level we currently have at the club, it wasn't fair to the players in the club to field a first grade side."

Had "four or five" of last year's first grade side remained, Mooney said, Wests might have been able to scrape together a team. But with the extent of the departures, any side the club put forward wouldn't have been "at all competitive".

West Tamworth will still put forward sides in the second, third, and fourth grade competitions, and they fully intend to return to the premier division in future years.

The focus in the meantime, Mooney said, will be establishing a culture at the club "to make the club attractive to for players to want to come and play for us again".

"I think we need a successful year across seconds, thirds, and fourths," he said.

"A successful year or two and we might hopefully start to bring some of those young guys, who aren't quite ready for first grade, in the next year or two maybe they will be and we'll be able to build the core of a first grade side again."

This target will not solely be achieved on the field. The club will also try to get all three grades involved in events like charity days, going to the sponsorship pub, and "overall building the culture to try and make it a place that people want to be".

Despite the lack of a first grade team this season, Mooney said the feeling among the players and committee was "genuinely pretty positive".

"We will field fairly competitive seconds, thirds, and fourth grade sides," he said.

"I don't necessarily know whether we'll win the comp, but I certainly think on any given day we could beat the teams."

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