Orange junior cricket carnival back again after COVID cancelled it in 2021

The Orange District Junior Cricket Association made the decision to cancel its annual carnival for the first time in 25 years when it did not go ahead in January this year due to the COVID pandemic.

About 1000 people from Sydney, NSW and New Zealand visited Orange for the 2020 carnival, which brought about $2 million into the economy through spending on accommodation, meals, drinks, shopping and fuel.

So considering all of that, ODJCA treasurer Erin Jarick couldn't have been happier to announce the carnival would not only return next month, but that it had already sold out.

"The popular T20 nights will be on the Tuesday night of each week down at Wade Park where we will proudly be showing off our new Carl Sharpe Cricket Centre of Excellence which is fitting because Sharpey started the carnivals in Dubbo many years ago," she said.

"These games are a highlight of the carnivals as each team is made up of one or two players from every team in the carnival and we provide a local coach to run them.

"We will have food vans available and it's an amazing atmosphere having all the teams together in one place under lights."

The event will run over two weeks, starting on January 3 and going to January 6. There will then be a break before teams return on January 10 with January 13 the final day of play.

Jarick said there would be something "extra special" this time around.

"Week one starts with the under 13 boys where 16 teams will contest the trophy coming from Penrith, Central Coast, Blacktown, Parramatta, ACT, Illawarra, Dubbo and an Orange contingent as well," she said.

"Then the second week has eight under 15 boys and for the first time in history has eight under 15 girls sides contesting the trophy.

"Last year we hosted six teams but with the growth in girls playing the game we thought we would see if we could get eight and we were not disappointed."

The eight teams are Newcastle, Western Zone, Lane Cove, Manly, Penrith, Parramatta, Gordon and Hills.

Despite the huge interest, Jarick believes there is bigger and better things to come.

"We are very excited to see what the future holds for our carnivals as we are currently limited by the number of turf pitches in Orange and have a waiting list," she said.

"With the new sports precinct being built soon and incorporating three more turf wickets - the carnivals can only get bigger and continue to grow in the years to come."

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