Subbies president says it’s ‘wait and see’ for 2020-21 season
The Sub-District association is aiming to start on Saturday, October 10 and play 13 rounds but president Phil O’Meara is worried about delays.
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Forget playing on Melbourne Cup Day and Australia Day.
The Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association is fixturing more traditional dates for a 2020-21 season it hopes will escape disruption from COVID-19.
With no football to be played in October, the Subbies are looking to start their season on Saturday, October 10.
The prospect of losing weeks early in the season had led them to float the idea of playing on Cup Day and Australia Day, but they’re now off the calendar.
VSDCA secretary Ken Hilton said the association had “put a stake in the ground’’.
“We’ve put it in on October 10,’’ he said.
“The clubs like to play 13 rounds and they like to have a mixture of two and one-day games.
“If you put the stake in the ground for October 10, it gives us flexibility in our fixture. It allows us to play the 13 rounds and have that mix of games and conclude things in the last weekend in March. But if we can’t start on October 10 or we get halted during the season, we’ve got the flexibility to swing two-dayers into one-dayers and still get the 13 rounds played.
“That’s why we’ve selected October 10. It’s in accordance with all the agreements that have been signed with winter sport and summer sport, even though football is not playing.’’
Yarra juniors are the only metropolitan football league still trying to get up a season but any matches it plays in October will be on grounds without turf wickets.
Hilton said clubs had been asking for a starting date as they tried to plan their pre-season training.
None can begin until stage three COVID-19 restrictions are eased.
VSDCA president Phil O’Meara said it was “wait and see’’ for the cricket season.
“Ten days ago I was very confident we’d be OK to get away but now I’m not so confident with all these spikes in cases,’’ he said.
“You just don’t know what obstacles will be put in front of us.
“But hopefully, a bit like golf, we can turn up in our creams or our colours and maybe not have access to the clubrooms but bring your own afternoon teas and bring your own drinks and play the game and go home.’’
He said cricket could adapt to any restrictions better than football.
Premier Cricket also has fingers crossed it will be able to start on Saturday, October 10, with officials planning mostly white-ball cricket before Christmas.
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