Robinvale seniors field a team after pulling up stumps sixteen years ago, and they've made the finals

After pulling up stumps 16 years ago, these senior cricketers have got back into their creams, donned some zinc, and started knocking up some surprising results.

The new Robinvale Euston Rangers seniors cricket team is a hot topic around the small northern Victorian towns of Robinvale and Euston, where the community is following the team's inspiring journey.

After a few early fitness hurdles and a crushing loss, the team is now third on the Red Cliffs Cricket Association ladder. 

Robinvale Euston Cricket Club, like many regional sporting clubs, fell victim to continuing population decline back in 2005 which made fielding a seniors team increasingly difficult.

With more clubs continuing to amalgamate to ensure their survival, it is hoped that what this seniors team has achieved will motivate other leagues to get teams back playing in their towns.

Club president Tom Lister moved to town four years ago and felt, as with many others in the Robinvale community, the struggle and effects of isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was at the local pub that Mr Lister and a few mates thought they would do something about it.

«As with most great ideas it all happened at the pub and we decided to form a seniors cricket team,» he said

With more than 20 players turning up for the first training session, Mr Lister was confident they had a team.

Swan Hill Shire mayor and wife to a senior player, Jade Benham, said the idea to bring back a seniors cricket team could not have come at a better time.

Despite her early reservations about her husband getting back on the team, she is now just as involved in the club as he is.

«It's been an amazing morale builder. Clubs don't just come back, they don't rise from the ashes like a phoenix. So it's been