By the end of season, the difficulties for Canowindra Cricket Club were obvious.
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A winless season and the forced exposure of several second-grade and junior players to Lachlan Premier cricket made it clear: Something had to change.
"We couldn't be a competitive A Grade side anymore," Canowindra's Nick Traves said.
"Molong happened to ask us if we wanted to join... We put it to one of our meetings and they all decided to head that way."
Canowindra will depart from the Lachlan Premier League this year and Traves expressed confidence that the Molong District Cricket Association would match the squad's current level.
"It should be a reasonable match to what our sides are looking like this year," last year's skipper said.
"If we can go to that competition and be evenly matched, it might... hopefully entice a few more younger players to come through.
While pre-season numbers have been consistent, with a solid core of eight or nine practicing in Saturday afternoon sessions, Traves hoped the number would continue to grow as the season approaches.
"We've had a pretty good turn out... but obviously too, coming into the season, a few players are busy doing other things, so hopefully in the next couple of weeks we'll have 13 to 15 there at training," he said.
While Traves will be missing some weeks throughout the season this year, due to his partner's study commitments in Wollongong, and his brother Brendan will likewise have similar gaps in availability due to work, Traves was confident that this wouldn't prove to be too much of a disruption.
"I'm going to be travelling down every second week to see her... but hopefully with uni holidays and that, I'll be able to play most of the season," he said.
Nevertheless, the fast-paced bowler, who performed strongly in representative cricket for Cowra last year, was excited about the energy the younger cricketers will bring to the table.
"There's definitely a lot of talent in Canowindra, it's just trying to get them to stick around," he said.
"Hopefully with the switch to Molong it's looking more positive."
And for Cowra locals worried that the Traves brothers will now be lost to Orange representative cricket, the experienced local had an ambiguous answer.
"I've asked the question, and I've been told that I'm still eligible to play for Cowra," Traves said.
"I don't know what that means... if Orange were to ask some of our players to play, whether we're eligible to play for them as well, I'm not entirely sure.
"I suppose we'll deal with that as it comes."
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