In an email to the Otago Daily Times, Otago Cricket Association chairman Russell Mawhinney advised the issue would be on the board’s agenda at the next meeting on Wednesday.
"It’s on our radar but we won’t be making any snap decisions," Mawhinney wrote.
"There has been a bit of talk recently about who we are (or should be) – Otago [or] Southern Districts etc.
"As you will know this is not the first time it has been raised. Jacob Duffy has chatted to me about it.
"Good on him for raising it and I certainly respect his viewpoint.
"There is more to it than just changing the name, though.
"[OCA chief executive] Mike Coggan has already pointed out the potential cost implications of rebranding if we were to make a change."
Coggan put the cost at up to $200,000, which is money the association can ill-afford considering it has forecast a $100,000 deficit for this financial period.
There is also history to consider and whether the name Otago could be preserved for the first-class team.
"If people want change, do they want a new name across the board or do the short-form teams have a [new] snazzy name and the longer-form teams stick with something more traditional?
"Northern Districts and Central Districts are made up of district associations, whereas here we have a fairly dominant centre in Dunedin.
"Maybe district associations could become more important in the future, especially with changes happening here [in terms of] the population of Central Otago expected to push close to Dunedin in about ten years.
"Maybe it is time for Dunedin to be playing Hawke Cup cricket as well? Then we would genuinely be southern districts.
"Hamilton plays Hawke Cup with a larger population than Dunedin."
"We also need input from New Zealand Cricket. All the major associations rely on funding from NZC, so they are a major stakeholder for us.
"They rely on funding from the ICC but, with the way things are changing with cricket internationally, there is some pressure on finances which could have an influence.
"It will be interesting to see what people think.
"So there are a lot of things to consider and I think it’s an important discussion to have.
"But let’s not get carried away."
