WITH the start of the summer of cricket across the North East and Alpine regions a matter of weeks away, clubs across the area are striving to get their bodies and skills up to the level they need to be to compete.

Ovens Valley United Cricket Club (OVUCC) president Thomas Chettleburgh said the opening round on October 15 felt like it had come out of nowhere.

"I think I'd be speaking on behalf of every club in the league to say it's crept up on us and that's no secret," he said.

"Just the way it is with the weather and everything, the football commitments, I think it's really crept up on us.

"The preparations have been a bit light on just due to our facilities and everything, not being able to facilitate any training, but the boys have started to get stuck into training now and we've got our training scheduled for Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays from here on in until t...