Ballarat Cricket Association firsts will begin the new season with a grand final rematch.
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Reigning premier Wendouree will meet Darley in a one-day round at Darley Park on Saturday, October 7
This will be the first of two meetings between last season’s grand finalists, with them also clashing in a two-day battle in round five on November 11-18.
There will be just three matches in round one.
Napoleons-Sebastopol will play East Ballarat and North Ballarat take on Ballarat-Redan.
Mt Clear, Golden Point and Brown Hill will each have a bye, and open their seasons in two-day fixtures on October 14-21.
The 2017-18 schedule features 12 rounds, with each of the nine teams playing eight two-day matches and two one-dayers.
With a bye, this means nine two-day rounds and three one-days.
There will also be a return to some Sunday matches for the first time in two seasons, with one-dayers scheduled for November 5 and February 4.
BCA operations manager Greg Wakeling said there are a few minor anomalies in regard to teams playing twice and having a bye twice in a short period of time, but many of which could not be avoided with the manoeuvring required in the structure agreed upon and dates available.
There will be a mid-season break on December 23 and January 6, with semi-finals weekend on March 10-11 and grand final on March 17-18-24-25.
FIRST XI FIXTURE
ROUND 1 – OCTOBER 7
Darley v Wendouree
Napoleons-Sebastopol v East Ballarat
North Ballarat v Ballarat-Redan
Mt Clear, Golden Point, Brown Hill bye
ROUND 2 - OCTOBER 14-21
North Ballarat v Brown Hill
Mt Clear v Wendouree
Napoleons-Sebastopol v Darley
Golden Point v East Ballarat
Ballarat-Redan bye
ROUND 3 - OCTOBER 28-NOVEMBER 4
Mt Clear v Ballarat-Redan
East Ballarat v Darley
Wendouree v Golden Point
Brown Hill v Napoleons-Sebastopol
North Ballarat bye
ROUND 4 – NOVEMBER 5 (Sunday)
Wendouree v Mt Clear
Napoleons-Sebastopol v Golden Point
North Ballarat v Brown Hill
Ballarat-Redan, Darley, East Ballarat bye
ROUND 5 – NOVEMBER 11-18
Napoleons-Sebastopol v North Ballarat
Ballarat-Redan v Golden Point
Wendouree v Darley
Brown Hill v East Ballarat
Mt Clear bye
ROUND 6 – NOVEMBER 25-DECEMBER 2
Ballarat-Redan v Wendouree
North Ballarat v Darley
Mt Clear v East Ballarat
Napoleons-Sebastopol v Golden Point
Brown Hill bye
ROUND 7 - DECEMBER 9-16
Ballarat-Redan v North Ballarat
Brown Hill v Mt Clear
Wendouree v Napoleons-Sebastopol
Darley v Golden Point
East Ballarat bye
ROUND 8 – JANUARY 13-20
East Ballarat v Napoleons-Sebastopol
Darley v Mt Clear
Wendouree v North Ballarat
Brown Hill v Ballarat-Redan
Golden Point bye
ROUND 9 – JANUARY 27-FEBRUARY 3
Ballarat-Redan v Napoleons-Sebastopol
North Ballarat v Mt Clear
Golden Point v Brown Hill
East Ballarat v Wendouree
Darley bye
ROUND 10 – FEBRUARY 4 (Sunday)
Mt Clear v Darley
East Ballarat v Golden Point
Ballarat-Redan v Brown Hill
Wendouree, Napoleons-Sebastopol, North Ballarat bye
ROUND 11 – FEBRUARY 10-17
Golden Point v Mt Clear
East Ballarat v North Ballarat
Darley v Ballarat-Redan
Brown Hill v Wendouree
Napoleons-Sebastopol bye
ROUND 12 – FEBRUARY 24-MARCH 3
Ballarat-Redan v East Ballarat
Golden Point v North Ballarat
Mt Clear v Napoleons-Sebastopol
Darley v Brown Hill
Wendouree bye
SEMI-FINALS – MARCH 10-11
GRAND FINAL – MARCH 17-18-24-25