December is the league’s main season. For Melbourne families it is also the week between Christmas and New Year that many junior cricketers look forward to most. This post sets out what is confirmed about the December 2026 tournament: when it is, who plays, how a match runs and how to register.
The match days
The December 2026 tournament is played on five days:
- Thursday 24 December
- Sunday 27 December
- Monday 28 December
- Tuesday 29 December
- Wednesday 30 December
The gap after the 24th is deliberate: there is no play on Christmas Day or Boxing Day. Venues are announced with the draw.
Who plays
The December 2026 tournament is for juniors:
- Boys: Under 10, Under 12, Under 14, Under 16 and Under 18
- Girls: Under 14 and Under 16
Each of the three Melbourne franchises — the Western Falcons, Eastern Panthers and Northern Warriors — fields all seven age groups. Around 150 players take part across the tournament.
A player has to meet the criteria for the age group they register in and provide proof of age. That proof is checked at enrolment and is not kept on file. Where a player lives does not decide whether they can play: the season is open to players from anywhere in Australia, and to players travelling from overseas.
How a match runs
Matches are T20 cricket played on turf, under the league’s competition rules and the Laws of Cricket. The headline points from those rules:
- Twelve active players a side, all able to field and bowl, with eleven or fewer batting.
- 20 overs per innings, one innings each.
- A bowler may bowl a maximum of three overs, which spreads the bowling across the side.
- The powerplay is the first four overs, with a maximum of two fielders outside the inner circle.
- A power surge: the batting side chooses two overs from the 11th over onwards with the same fielding restriction. If it has not been taken by the 18th over, the umpires apply it for the 19th and 20th.
- Five overs per side constitutes a match, and Duckworth–Lewis applies when rain shortens a game.
- Teams arrive no later than 45 minutes before the match.
Umpires are appointed by the league, and every match is scored, so each player’s runs, wickets and catches exist as a record afterwards. The league scores every ball in the VECL app on CricHeroes.
Whether play goes ahead in rain, and the lightning rule, are set out in the wet and extreme weather policy. The short version is that the accredited umpire decides, and that if thunder follows lightning by thirty seconds or less, everyone leaves the field and takes cover.
How selection works
You register for the season, not for a franchise. Squads are picked from everyone who registers, and you are told which franchise your player is in before the season starts.
- New to the league? Registration enters your player into team selection. Places in each squad are limited, so registering is not itself a place in a team.
- Played a VECL season before? You do not go through team selection again for December 2026.
- The selectors’ decision is final and is not open to negotiation.
Players new to the league can also be seen at the November try-outs — Wednesday 4 November in St Kilda and Monday 9 November in Hoppers Crossing — which pick the December junior franchises as well as the High Performance International Pathway (HPIP) camp squad. The try-outs page has the details. Try-out bookings close Sunday 8 November.
If your player is also on the HPIP
The two fit together by design. Players selected for the HPIP spend eight days at the Karnataka Institute of Cricket in Bengaluru, leaving Melbourne on 13 December, and come home to play this tournament. They are still separate registrations; the registration chooser sets out which is which.
Costs and commitments
- Registration is $20, payable when you register for team selection. It pays for the team selection session, not for a place in a squad.
- Uniforms — playing shirt, trousers and cap — are provided by the franchise and paid for by the player. A player not in the correct uniform may not take part.
- Cancellations cannot be accommodated within fourteen days of the tournament starting. Inside that window there is not enough time to select and kit out a replacement, so a withdrawal is treated as a forfeit. The registration, refund and cancellation policy sets out the detail.
How to register
Register at vecl.au/register/season. Tell us about the player and their cricket, pay the $20, and a confirmation is emailed straight away. The December 2026 season page has the full picture, and questions go to info@vecl.au.