MANNING Cricket Association will look at the possibility of playing a challenge game between the Manning T1 premiers and the grand final winners of the Hastings/Macleay competition next season.
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Both grand finals were played on the weekend on March 16-17, with Taree United defeating Wingham in the Manning, while Macquarie Hotel downed Port City Leagues in the Hastings-Macleay first grade decider.
This competition is known as Two Rivers and involves six sides, four from the Hastings and two from the Macleay.
This was the first northern grand final decided since 2019 due to a combination of fires, the pandemic and wet weather.
Manning Cricket president Steve Campbell said playing the challenge game the weekend after the two grand finals was a possibility.
"A potential problem could be that winter sports are playing trial games - the day we played our T1 grand final the Old Bar Clams and Manning Ratz played a rugby trial for example,'' he said.
"Players involved in winter sports might want to concentrate on them once cricket is over.''
However, he believed if a date was set aside at the start of the season and a sponsor could be found to put up prizemoney, teams would be interested.
The venue for the match could alternate between north and south each year.
"We'll bring this up with the Mid North Coast Council and see what happens from there,'' he said.
Great Lakes was one of four clubs that took part in the Manning T1 competition last season.
After being grand finalists the previous two years, Great Lakes struggled to be competitive against the leading teams, Taree United and Wingham.
"They seemed to have trouble getting their best side,'' Mr Campbell said.
However, he added the Dolphins unearthed some exciting young players during the season and he was confident there were better days ahead.
