The first ball of the new McDonald’s Gunnedah Premier League will be bowled this afternoon with four franchises – Middlebrook Air, McDonald’s, Betta Electrical and Karen Carter Chemist challenging for $2400 in prizemoney.

The competition is an extension of the existing Reading Cup and will follow a similar blue print to the successful Tamworth league with a few variations.

One of the biggest will be the two games being played back-to-back thanks to the luxury of the Kitchener Park lights, with the first game getting underway at 5.15pm and the second at 8pm.

The league has generated a buzz around Gunnedah, and not just among the players, with Gunnedah president Paul Lodge making reference to the support the competition has received from the business community.

“It’s been terrific. I was initially a bit concerned about whether we’d gather the sponsorship,” Lodge said.

But he needn’t have been concerned.

“We ended up with four franchises pretty much within the first week,” he said.

“We had to turn two away.”

The four teams will be kitted out in coloured clothing including lime and dark green, royal blue, navy and white, blue and yellow, and maroon and light maroon.

Over 60 players registered to play, a pool from which the four captains – Adam Marshall (Middlebrook Air), Troy Sands (McDonald’s), Jamie Mitchell (Betta Electrical) and Ben Middlebrook (Karen Carter Chemist) drew their teams.

To ensure there wasn’t any stacked sides, the TPL committee after selecting the four captains, selected eight marquee players, of which the captains each picked two, and then one of four junior marquee players.

They then in turn selected the remaining members of their squads.

“There’s a pretty good mix of talent and age,” Lodge said.

“We had registrations from 15 right through to 48.”

The competition will run for six weeks with a grand final set down for December 18.

Entry to the ground is free but organisers are asking for a gold coin donation, which will be donated to Ronald McDonald House at the end of the

competition.