Buninyong Cricket Club is heralding the installation of a new turf pitch at its home ground as the completion of its arrival into the region's top division.
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The club joined the Ballarat Cricket Association firsts competition for the 2018-19 season, but has been playing home games away from Buninyong because there's only a hard wicket at the oval.
A project years in the making is set to change all that, with works well and truly underway to establish a four-pitch turf wicket table in the middle of the ground.
Chris Gordon is current secretary of the club and said it was an important project for a range of reasons.
"I've been on the committee for over 20 years and we were at the old oval when I first started. Our plan going back probably 15 years ago at least was to get into the main competition in the Ballarat Cricket Association," Gordon said.
"And then coming with that is you need a home ground. Currently we are playing with St Patrick's College as our home oval, but you want something a little bit closer to attract interest from the locals and the like.
"It's the final sort of step of that progression to the main competition."
Gordon said funding for the project was sourced from Cricket Victoria and Cricket Australia as well as the state government, Bendigo Bank and through member donations and also wished to thank the City of Ballarat for managing the works.
"We were hoping to get it done last year but the timeline didn't work very well so we pressed a bit harder this year and it worked out quite well with the alignment of the agreement between the council and the BCA for turf pitch maintenance," he said.
"From that, and a very strong drive through our members and the Bendigo Community Bank out here, we were able to get the funding up a to a level we needed to pay for the installation of the pitch."
He said the turf wouldn't be ready for play until next season.
Gordon said the club had a strategic plan in place and has ambitions of now securing a second hard wicket oval. Options include a ground at Federation University previously used by Mt Clear.
Buninyong is also hoping to eventually implement a senior women's side on the back of its successful junior girls program.
While pennant bowls returns from the mid-season break this weekend, the BCA won't resume until Saturday, January 16.
Buninyong currently sits seventh on the first grade ladder ahead of a round 10 clash with Brown Hill at St Patrick's College.
This season, the top six sides make finals.
