A $2.4 MILLION high performance cricket facility is set to be part of the Baranduda Fields sporting precinct.
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Cricket Albury-Wodonga chairman Michael Erdeljac said the training centre, which he hoped could be in place by the start of the 2018-19 season, would rival that of capital cities.
Wodonga Council has committed $3 million in its draft budget to begin construction of the $20 million stage one at Baranduda Fields, which will include two football and cricket ovals, netball courts and changerooms.
The council is waiting on federal and state funding applications to bankroll Baranduda Fields and Erdeljac said he was looking forward to working closely with Cricket Australia, Cricket Victoria and Cricket NSW in developing the application for the high performance facility.
The centre would boast up to eight indoor pitches with the capacity to host a variety of indoor sports, including netball and soccer.
Erdeljac said while there was still plenty of work to be done, the potential for the project was “mind-blowing”.
“It will be amazing for cricket around here,” he said.
“If you’re an elite cricketer, you won’t have to go to Melbourne or Sydney to be taught cricket, you’ll be able to train with level three coaches in Albury-Wodonga.
“If you’re a young kid from Corryong or a young girl from Urana aged 13 or 14 and have made a state side, you don’t have to travel to capital cities to get the next level of coaching.
“We would have some of the best coaches based here and we would take them through that process because it’s important to have a pathway for our kids.
“We reach out to Wangaratta, Benalla, Yarrawonga, Corryong, Henty, Holbrook and Urana and they will all come to Albury-Wodonga.”
Erdeljac said as one of Albury-Wodonga’s major growth corridors, Baranduda was the perfect location for the high performance facility.
“Who knows how big Baranduda is going to be in 20 years’ time?,” he said.
“The beauty of this project is that we can work closely with the three schools out there in Baranduda as well.”
Erdeljac said the Border was capable of producing more first class cricketers to follow the lead of Andrew McDonald and Dominic Thornely.
Former Holbrook and Lavington all-rounder Steve Taylor recently won the Jack Ryder Medal as Victorian Premier Cricket’s best and fairest player.
He was the second Cricket Albury-Wodonga export to win the award in four seasons after Brenton McDonald won it in 2012-13.
Former CAW Provincial stars Joe Loorham, Liam Scammell and James McNeil have also made a successful transition from the Border to top-grade cricket in Melbourne.
“Our best can go to Melbourne and play, no worries,” Erdeljac said.
“Robbie Jackson, David Farrell, Zac Simmonds, Josh Warren-Marmo, Drew Cameron would all play first grade cricket in Melbourne if they lived there but they don’t, they live in Albury-Wodonga, so that’s why we have to look after our own backyard.”
Erdeljac said the Border Bullets’ success in the Regional Bash final at the SCG, coupled with Tallangatta’s journey to the MCG in the Victorian competition, had made Cricket Australia powerbrokers sit up and take note.
“You can’t knock the numbers, Albury-Wodonga, and I count it as one, is in the top 20 cities in Australia,” he said.
“We’re going places and people are starting to take notice.
“If we’re the best country players in NSW and Victoria, we’ve got to be able to go somewhere and we’ve got to have pathways for our kids.”