Otago Country will take the place of the now dissolved Pelichet Bay Senior Cricket team for the first round of the Dunedin one-day club competition this summer.
Pelichet Bay was formed two years ago to avoid a bye in the senior competition. Otago Cricket Operations Assistant Tim O'Sullivan said the team would be dissolved and replaced by Otago Country. "They [Pelichet Bay] have not really dropped out," O'Sullivan said. "They were a Dunedin Cricket Association run team that we pulled in favour of a proposal from the Otago Country Cricket Association. "They [Otago Country] were keen to get their players out playing early this year and to have a good build-up for the Hawke Cup." O'Sullivan added the effect of a bye was not as great with declaration cricket replacing the  two-day competition.

“The Otago Country proposal has provided for some extra excitement into the early part of the cricket season which will see Dunedin based team teams travelling to Otago Country to play on grass wickets. This will be beneficial to all cricketers”

Otago Country chairman Malcolm Jones welcomed the decision and revealed several high-profile players would join the team for the first round of the one-day competition. Black Cap Ian Butler, experienced Otago seamer Warren McSkimming and strike bowler James McMillan will turn out for Otago Country. "As the board sees it, it will be a good opportunity for the players to play alongside the likes of Warren McSkimming, who has played 10 years of first-class cricket, and Butler, who is a Black Cap," Jones said. "The guys are quite excited.”

"We've lost a number of experienced players over the last couple of years and we see this as an ideal opportunity for younger guys to be mixing and gaining experience," he said, adding it would be good preparation for its Hawke Cup campaign.

It is proposed Otago Country will play all of its games in the Otago Country region which will mean Butler, McSkimming and McMillan will get the benefit of bowling on grass rather than the artificial surfaces which are used in Dunedin early in the season.

Club cricket will start on October 2 with the first of two one-day competitions. The competition will take a break over Christmas and resume with a franchise-based twenty/20 tournament from January 8-22.  Declaration cricket will start in mid-February and wind up on March 26.