Cricket is back, with the 2026-27 Cricket Tasmania Premier League season officially launched ahead of the opening round of action this weekend.
After months of preparation across clubs and grounds around the state, Premier Cricket Manager Sean Stevenson said there was plenty of excitement ahead of the first matches of the new campaign.
“A lot of work goes into it, particularly at club level and we are particularly grateful to our volunteers but also our councils and our curation staff,” Stevenson said.
“It is a challenge to get wickets up for the start of the year each year. They do an awesome job to get us away in the first week of October.
“Everyone [from the Tigers contracted squad] who is available is playing [in round one]… it is really exciting.”
Stevenson expects another tightly contested season, with increased depth across the competition likely to make wins even harder to come by.
“I think one of the great things we are seeing this year is – and we have had an even competition largely for the last few years – but I think it is going to be even closer.
“A couple of the teams who have struggled a little bit in last couple of years will actually be stronger.
“I think every game will be competitive, which is what we want.”
The season launch also celebrated the continuation of Cricket Tasmania’s partnership with the Road Safety Advisory Council, which is now entering its sixth year.
The partnership has provided an important platform to promote road safety messages through cricket, with the RSAC also serving as the competition’s umpires sponsor for the past three seasons.
Chair of the Road Safety Advisory Council Scott Tilyard said Premier Cricket provided an opportunity to reach Tasmanians of all ages.
“The core purpose of our partnership with Cricket Tasmania is really helping to get the message out to the broader community about road safety,” Tilyard said.
“Cricket appeals to people of all ages so it is a great opportunity for us to partner with Cricket Tas to get the message out about safety on our roads.”
The partnership will expand its focus on younger Tasmanians this season with the introduction of an Under-18 Road Safety Round, reinforcing important road safety messages with players approaching, or beginning, their time behind the wheel.
Tilyard said young drivers remained an important audience for road safety messaging, despite encouraging improvements in recent years.
“Young drivers are over represented in fatal and serious crashes on our roads, the good news is that is trending down,” Tilyard said.
“People aged between 16 and 25 make up around 11 per cent of the Tasmanian population, but about 20 per cent of victims in fatal and serious crashes.”
The Under-18 round will complement the RSAC’s broader “Over is Over” campaign, which draws a natural connection between cricket and the importance of obeying speed limits.
“One of the key campaigns around speed is ‘Over is Over’. What underpins that campaign is even over the speed limit by a small amount, is not only illegal but also increases the risk of a crash,” Tilyard said.
“Obviously there are some parallels between ‘Over is Over’ and overs during cricket, the two fit together quite nicely.”