As backyard cricket over the Christmas and new year period fades to memory, it’s time for competitive action to resume across the Wangaratta region.

Wangaratta and District Cricket Association senior competitions are set to recommence this weekend, after taking a hiatus over the holiday season.

For A grade and A reserve cricketers, it means a lengthening of matches as they switch back into one-day cricket after their T20 competitions wrapped up on 20 December.

Rovers United Bruck will resume the one-day season on top of the A grade ladder, undefeated after their first five matches.

While they narrowly missed out on a spot in the T20 decider, the Hawks have the chance to further distance themselves from the pack when they take on second-placed Ovens Valley United at Bill O’Callaghan Oval this weekend.

Hawks skipper Jeremy Wilson said his players were eager to get back to one-day cricket after falling short in the shorter form.

“We got back into it last Thursday night, we’ve had a hit Monday night this week and Tuesday night this week just to try and get in before the hot weather, get back into the swing of things,” he said.

“Obviously it would’ve been nice to be in the grand final and potentially win, but unfortunately nothing’s a given these days, you just can’t assume you’ll rock up and win.

“Because they are separate competitions, it’s been and done now, it’s before Christmas, so we haven’t really spoken about it, to be fair.

“We’re unbeaten in the one-dayers, so we’ve got to pick back up from where we left off."

The Hawks usually host matches at WJ Findlay Oval, but due to ongoing works on the centre wicket, the match will be held across the road at Barr Reserve’s Bill O’Callaghan Oval.

“I’m not a curator, I don’t claim to be one, so when they say it’s ready to go from their point of view, that’s when we’ll play,” he said.

“We’re in a fortunate position where there are a few grounds available, Colts don’t have a game this week and they were preparing pitches for Junior Country Week on Sunday and Monday.

“We certainly appreciate the efforts of the Colts boys for helping us out, it doesn’t go without notice.

“The deck there will be fine, it’ll be flat, it’ll be hard and the ground’s quick – there’s not going to be much room for error with the ball.”

The Hawks will obviously be looking to quell the influence of Ovens Valley superstar Geeth Alwis, who has made 369 runs at 92.25 with the bat, and taken 15 wickets at 4.13 with the ball.

“We can talk about Geeth for days on end, the guy’s a very good player, but at the same time we don’t go in with any fear or anything like that,” Wilson said.

“We’ve got plans we put in place to get him out, obviously that worked in the T20s, a different game.

“We know his strengths, and there are a lot of them, but we also have a few ideas of where we can limit him and push him into areas he doesn’t want to go into, which is what you’ve got to do in one-day cricket.

“You’ve got Seamus [Phillips] who’s made a few runs, their two imports [Joe Monk and Joel Jordan] are more than handy players, and they’ve got some good youngsters.

“They’re a really dangerous side, as are most sides in the one-day comp, so we’ll certainly be focussed on limiting them and trying to work out the best way forward.”

Rovers United Bruck hosts Ovens Valley at Bill O’Callaghan Oval from 12.30pm on Saturday.