Sub-District association pushes start of season back a month
The Subbies say they will be unable to get their season going until restrictions for COVID-19 are at stage two, and they’re now aiming to start 2020-21 in November — and their president is worried it may be even longer.
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The Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association has pushed the start of its season back a month.
The Subbies are now aiming to get away on November 7 but president Phil O’Meara is worried it could be delayed further in the face of COVID-19.
The VSDCA had been planning to start on Saturday, October 10.
O’Meara said today the competition did not have a range of starting dates like Victorian Premier Cricket but believed councils, clubs and players would need three weeks to prepare for Round 1.
He said the season could only start once Victoria eased its COVID-19 restrictions to stage two “because a lot of the councils won’t do their curations until then’’.
“We’re going to try to start as early as we can, based on what the State Government will allow us to do,’’ O’Meara said.
“A lot of the Premier clubs had their wickets laser-levelled. None of the Subbies clubs had theirs done at all, not that we need a lot because there’s been no winter sports on them. But we think three weeks’ notice is plenty for everyone.
“What we’re all worried about is that we might not get started this year at all, that it could be January next year before we start. Everyone is waiting to see how it will work out.’’
The VSDCA had been aiming to have 13 rounds with a mix of two and one-day games.
O’Meara said a November 7 start would still allow for some two-day cricket.
While other competitions have held off naming a starting date, the Subbies said they wanted to “put a stake in the ground’’.
VSDCA secretary Ken Hilton said today: “The board understands the clubs want some clarity about what’s going on, but we simply don’t know.
“If we have to pull back later, we have to pull back later. We’ve got no control over this. We’ve got to follow what Cricket Victoria and the Victorian health officials tell us. They’ll tell us what we can and can’t do and we’ll adjust our fixtures accordingly.’’
Premier Cricket named October 24 as its Round 1 but is resigned to changing it to November 7.
It has in place a seven-step plan to deal with COVID-19.
Each scenario has a cut-off date for when return-to-train and return-to-play dates must be known.
The starting dates are:
1: October 24 (cut-off September 10)
2: November 7 (cut-off September 24)
3: November 21 (cut-off October 8)
4: December 5 (cut-off October 29)
5: January 9 (cut-off November 26)
6: January 23 (cut-off December 10)
7: January 30 (cut-off January 5)
Last week Cricket Victoria held webinars with local associations about possible starting dates, and rules and processes to be dealt with beforehand.
Most competitions indicated they were hoping to get away in late October.
CV is hosting webinars for clubs this week to provide information around return to play and return to play dates and protocols.