The season gets underway for most age groups on Saturday, October 17 - the under-16s start on the 18th - however the under-9s and 10s won’t start until the 24th.

It is in the under-11s as well as the 9s and 10s that are causing most concern for the president and club officials.

“At this stage it looks as thought we will have only five teams in the nines and tens, but in the under-11s we’ve only got four teams. The previous season we had six teams,” Thomas said.

“We don’t want to get into a habit of looking for players in these age groups as it will impact on the other age groups in the coming seasons.

“Of the five teams in the under-9s, Newtown is still looking for players so I would urge any parents who have children in this age group and want to play cricket to get in touch.

“To their credit Newtown have been to the schools in a bid to fill their teams.”

Thomas said the association’s sign-on day had again been successful but he still believes there are still some boys and girls who haven’t registered.

“One of the problems junior cricket has is that the winter seasons are running closer to the start of our programs,” he said.

“What happens is that the parents and some of the children are exhausted at the end of the winter sports and look to have a break.

“In some cases looking for another sport - junior cricket - to play straight away is not a major concern.

“We also have a number of sports like junior rugby, league and soccer have representative training squads that are selected at the end of a season and have regular training sessions during the summer months.

“I’ve already spoken to Sports Council and they are going to take up the issue. Hopefully something can be done.

“Even small things like having the football training later on a Saturday - well after junior cricket has finished - makes a difference.”

In the older age groups the association seems to have retained its numbers. There will be seven teams in under-12s, six in 13s and seven in 14s.

Six local teams have entered the competitive under-16s competition that will be played as one-day games each Sunday.

At this stage Newtown will have teams and CYMS, St John’s and Macquarie one each. They will be joined by Wellington but at this stage Gilgandra is not confirmed.

Any parents with children looking for a game of cricket can contact Dubbo Junior Cricket Association president Trevor Thomas on 6884 6461.