George Town will have more than enough players to field two teams should it be accepted into the TCL, says president Winston Mason.
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Removed from this season's Cricket North roster after poor turnouts in pre-season training, the Saints met with TCL committee members at George Town on Tuesday night to discuss a move to turf competition.
Mason said the TCL's social element and lower playing costs were an attractive proposition for potential Saints players.
"It's the type of cricket our boys like to play - it's 40-over cricket, it starts at 11am, finishes at 5pm," Mason said.
"Any one-day cricket is more entertaining than two-day cricket so the game suits us, the playing conditions suit us so we're fairly confident we're going to get more than we need.
"Whether the quality of player is there in the first instance is questionable, but the enthusiasm around the club the last couple of days has been great, it's been really good."
Mason said Tuesday's meeting had gone well and graded the club's chances of being admitted into this season's roster about "50-50".
"It went pretty well really, it was a good meeting, they were very understanding. We made a presentation to them, they made a presentation to us," Mason said.
"I was very impressed with the way the TCL operates actually - I wasn't aware of too much about the TCL in the past, but I learned a lot last night that I was very impressed with.
"It's hard to gauge whether we should feel confident or not, it's a decision that affects all the clubs presently in the competition so we have to be accepted by the majority of them I expect."
TCL president Darrell Whyte said the league committee would meet on Wednesday night to discuss the Saints' application.
The new season's rosters will not be released until a decision is made.
"We've got to let the rest of the committee know what went on, then the committee will make up its mind and then we'll put it to the clubs," Whyte said.
"Hopefully we'll have a decision next week."
A mainstay of the Cricket North competition for many decades, George Town has produced a number of high-profile cricketers in recent times including national representative Xavier Doherty and Tasmanian pair Gabe Bell and Jarrod Freeman.
Playing numbers first became a problem ahead of the 2014-15 Cricket North season when the club was forced to pull out of the A-grade roster.
The Saints played one more A-grade season in 2015-16 but have largely struggled since despite winning Cricket North's third grade title in 2018-19.
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Hamish Geale
Hamish Geale is a senior reporter at The Examiner. Got good news? Email: hgeale@examiner.com.au
Hamish Geale is a senior reporter at The Examiner. Got good news? Email: hgeale@examiner.com.au
