Camrea Cricket Club to take the field as it fights North Metro Cricket Association ban

Having already fended off two attempts to expel it, Camrea is set to take the field as it fights a suspension from the North Metro Cricket Association.

Camrea will take the field this weekend despite a two-year suspension hanging over the club’s head.

The Stingrays have fended off two attempts by the North Metro Cricket Association to expel them since the end of last season.

The NMCA deregistered the club following last season’s controversial Quick Shield grand final against Lalor Warriors, which saw a melee break out after the match.

Camrea took the association to court and was reinstated on August 24 when the penalty was rescinded prior to the court hearing.

A second expulsion notice was issued just 19 days later for “conduct prejudicial to the interests of the association”.

Camrea will take the field this weekend.

A meeting was held on Monday to allow the Stingrays to plead their case and the NMCA withdrew the expulsion notice, instead slapping the club with the suspension.

Camrea has since appealed the penalty and is allowed to play until the association organises a special general meeting of member clubs to vote on the decision.

It all stems from the grand final on March 18 at Oulton Park.

After the winning runs were hit, Stingrays player Chathura Demuni was confronted and struck by a Warriors opponent while celebrating and retaliated by hitting him with his bat.

A melee between players and spectators then broke out, an incident that made the nightly news.

Camrea won the match by four wickets and, with it, promotion to the top flight Jika Shield.

Following a NMCA investigation, Demuni was banned for six years and his opponent two years.

No other player nor supporter from Camrea was reported, while multiple Warriors players and supporters received penalties.

As a result Lalor Warriors were expelled and have since joined the North West Metro Cricket Association but Camrea is fighting to remain.

The club contends it was denied a hearing, has not been found guilty of any wrongdoing in the melee and was informed of the penalties more than a month after they were decided.

Camrea took the NMCA to court and was reinstated, while Demuni’s suspension was also rescinded on August 25.

Three days after withdrawing the initial expulsion notice, the NMCA board voted to expel Camrea again, informing the club on September 13.

The association said the grand final incident, a club member entering the field without permission during the 2021-22 women’s grand final, two reports which had seen the club placed on a two-year good behaviour bond and several unreported allegations, were key reasons.

NMCA president Matt O’Brien, who plays for Jika Shield premier Holy Trinity said the association had a zero-tolerance policy on violence.

“It’s not isolated to that (grand final) incident, to issue a two-year suspension wouldn’t be off one incident,” he said.

“From a board perspective we’ve been pretty clear in the last three or four years we’re going to take a zero tolerance approach to violence and that sort of behaviour.

“The primary mandate from our member clubs, we were elected to create a fun, safe and family-friendly environment.

“I feel we’d started to do that and that was largely undone by what happened on the 18th of March.”

The second notice of expulsion also included allegations of “heckling”.

Having walked back from it decision to expel Camrea, the association determined on Tuesday that it would instead be suspended for two years.

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In its findings the board concluded “no cogent evidence was provided … disproving the behaviour prejudicial to the interests of the association other than to state that these events did not occur and to impress on the association the willingness of the Camrea Cricket Club to ‘fold the association’ if required by bringing litigation against it.”

Camrea said the selective quote of “fold the association” has been taken out of context as the club had been left with a choice between destruction or damaging the association.

In its notice of suspension, the NMCA added an allegation of the Camrea scorer, now deceased, smoking during the women’s grand final in 2017 and again during a match last season.

Camrea is due to host Jika Shield power Rivergum at John Hall Reserve.