Victorian Premier Cricket: Tribunal decides finals make up

The status of a pair of Premier Cricket finals has been determined with a club’s bid to play denied.

Cricket ball resting on a cricket bat on green grass of cricket pitch

Melbourne University has been removed from the Victorian Premier Cricket finals after an unsuccessful appeal on Thursday evening.

The Students were deemed to be breaking Premier Cricket laws when they played an unqualified player in their Fourth XI against Ringwood last weekend.

The player had played enough matches to qualify for Melbourne University but did so in a feeder competition, the club’s Fifth XI, not Victorian Premier Cricket.

The Students defeated the Rams by three wickets.

Competition Manager Darren Anderson says while the mistake was an “innocent oversight”, the tribunal had to follow the laws in place.

“Ultimately we need to use the Premier Cricket rules as our bible and administer them the way they are printed,” he said.

“While it’s a difficult decision emotionally, it’s not a difficult decision as per the process.

“We need to go with what’s in the rules and administer it that way.”

The appeal left the remaining five teams in limbo as the finals structure is based around home and away season placing.

Ringwood will now progress and play Prahran at Windy Hill, while Melbourne will play St Kilda at the Albert Ground.