Cricket burnt out

There are some things which are more important than hitting a ball around a park on any given Saturday, such as community safety, welfare concerns and a view to the larger picture. The Wangaratta and District Cricket Association made the call to cancel the weekend’s cricket fixtures in a post publicised on early Friday afternoon, citing excessive risk factors and variables arising from the ongoing bushfires raging across the area. “The WDCA has made the call to cancel this weekend’s round of cricket on Saturday, 10 January,” the post reads. “There are too many risk factors and variables in play. “Community safety is our top priority. “We will cancel the round as opposed to rescheduling due to the short notice of the change and player availability. “Please look after yourself and others.” The weekend would’ve seen the resumption of the local A grade, A reserve, B grade and C grade senior cricket competitions, following the Christmas and new year break. The WDCA executive was monitoring conditions over the week in the lead-up, in particular the consecutive days in excess of 40 degrees. WDCA president James Ladd said there had been consistent and reliable communication with clubs, particularly those situated closer to the fire front. “It was kind of an odd one, because it wasn’t going to be hot on the Saturday, but everybody felt it was the best way to go,” he said. “Delatite had already contacted us and said they weren’t able to field a playing team that weekend, so we were already in the process of postponing those games and working that part out. “During the week, we talked about it as an executive, and informed the clubs the day before to say that on the Friday we’d make a decision by 12pm. “As the weather and the situation kept going on with the fires, we just decided that it’d be better off if everyone had the ability to focus on the people they knew in those areas, helping people and not having any anxiety about having to travel or move around for cricket. “People have felt anxiety around it, so we thought it was the best option. “The main thing is that the community is safe, that’s the main thing we’re focused on. “It was very well received by all the clubs.” While the Saturday competition was cancelled, Sunday’s Junior Country Week was allowed to proceed. “We have gone ahead and continued with Junior Country Week which started on Sunday in association with Cricket Albury Wodonga,” Ladd said. “We’ve been in discussion with them all week with where it’s sitting and how comfortable we are – we think with the cooler temperatures we’re okay to go ahead with that. “We’re monitoring conditions as we go.” Currently, the league plans for the season to resume on Saturday, 17 January, with both the senior and junior grades slated to get back on the park, subject to the ever-changing situation. “It’s such a versatile situation,” Ladd said. “The other thing we’ve got to consider is are there parts of the town being used for evacuation points and things like that. “At this point, I’d say no, we’re not going to cancel next week, but who knows what’s going to happen with the fires and all of that “There’s nothing to say it’s not going ahead - we’ll go off the advice of clubs and how they reach out to us, we’ve got strong communication channels with that, so we can go from there.”

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