IT’S A WIPEOUT: Brisbane lockdown, wet weather forces Toowoomba cancellations

FIND out which sports have been cancelled as the impacts of the Brisbane lockdown reach Toowoomba.

Sports have been cancelled across Toowoomba. Picture: Kevin Farmer

THIS weekend was meant to signal the return of many club sports throughout Toowoomba, however those plans have since gone up in smoke.

Continued wet weather and the latest lockdown in Brisbane have forced the cancellation of the return of Toowoomba cricket fixtures, as well as GBL baseball abandoning round 11 matches across the league.

A statement from TCI president Angus Rathie highlighted that the board would monitor the situation in the coming days.

“In a text hook-up this (Friday) morning with TCI Board members and club presidents, there is agreement to abandon all Toowoomba Cricket fixtures scheduled for this Saturday, 9th January 2021,” it read.

“This decision was based around the continued wet weather affecting field and pitch preparation and the COVID-19 situation in greater Brisbane which has affected the availability of many players and officials.

We will monitor the situation next week regarding the T20 fixtures scheduled next week and day 2 of the open cricket on the 16th January.”

With a majority of the Greater Brisbane League baseball clubs naturally based in the state’s capital, an inevitable decision was made to cancel this weekend’s games.

“All GBL games scheduled for this weekend including Masters games on Monday evening are cancelled due to the COVID – 19,” a statement read.

“Further decisions and actions will be advised based on the Qld Govt health advice provided over the next few days.”

As for the state of today’s thoroughbred meeting on the Gold Coast, featuring the $250,000 Magic Millions Country Cup, The Courier Mail’s Nathan Exelby is reporting that racing officials are hopeful it can proceed as planned at the time of going to print.

“Racing Queensland is awaiting direction from the state government, but is hopeful tomorrow’s rich Wave meeting at the Gold Coast can proceed,” Exelby reported.

“Officials were sent into a frenzy on Friday morning when Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced Greater Brisbane would be locked down from 6pm Friday evening.

“RQ spoke to the relevant government officials Friday morning and stated the case for racing to proceed.

“As of midmorning, they were hopeful the Gold Coast meeting could go ahead, along with other races scheduled for southeast Queensland this weekend.

“Racing was able to proceed last year during Queensland COVID lockdowns and RQ is hopeful the protocols that allowed that to happen can be used again in this instance.”