THE Wangaratta and District Cricket Association will be on high alert as the Ovens and Murray Football Netball League flags the possibility of playing finals into October.
The WDCA haven’t released an official fixture at this point in time, but the season typically starts on the second Saturday of October, meaning October 9 looks to be the starting date for the 2021 season.
However, the O&M have announced that the latest date to play the grand final would be October 3, just six days before the potential start of the WDCA season.
With many grounds such as Norm Minns and WJ Findlay ovals hosting matches from both sporting codes, an interesting discussion between the two sports and council awaits league officials.
Newly appointed WDCA president Greg Hoysted said the league hadn’t heard from the O&M yet.
“We haven’t heard any official word from the O&M yet which makes it hard to comment on the situation,” Hoysted said.
“If that was the case (that the O&M plays into October) then they would have to come to us and a decision would need to be made from there.
“There are rules around who has access to the grounds in summer and winter so a request would have to be made and then we’d look at it from there.
“To a certain extent all sports need to be flexible at the moment.”
Premier cricket in Melbourne have released a fixture with no dates saying that the league will start three weeks after the city comes out of lockdown.
“Premier cricket have published a fixture and said they’ll start three weeks after lockdown to allow for players to train in the lead up to the season,” Hoysted said.
“It’s not as simple as coming out of lockdown and starting cricket that weekend.
“We’ve got a few plans and ideas in place.”
The 2020/21 WDCA season ran with minimal COVID-19 implications which are good signs as the new year quickly approaches us.
“It seems to be that COVID is a lot worse in winter which is good signs for cricket,” Hoysted said.
“We got to the end of last season so we’re hopeful it will be a similar story this year.”
Hoysted replaces Michael Hurley as the president after spending nine years as the head man at the Benalla and District Cricket Association, while also spending time in other cricket admin roles.
“From a background point of view nothing’s particularly new which definitely helps,” Hoysted said.
“But from a COVID point of view it’s a completely new world where everyone is learning.”
