Competition for first and second-grade Cowra teams has ground to a halt after storms last Thursday, with play cancelled across all grades.
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It means that no matches will be played until the start of January for first grade, while second grade will have to wait until the start of February before they resume regular fixturing.
The decision to cancel all matches was a protracted one, but first grade – run by the Lachlan Cricket Council – was made quickly, especially in light of officials and a team travelling from Parkes.
President Greg Nicholls, a Cowra local, said the decision was an easy one in light of the playing conditions on Thursday night.
“Holman Oval was completely under water,” Nicholls said, alluding to the scheduled fixture between Valleys and Canowindra.
By contrast, the Bowling Club had bought some time by covering the pitch on Twigg Oval for their match against the Cambridge Cats, but there was still the matter of getting the outfield into shape.
But with rain over night, the call was quickly made on Friday morning to call off the game, with synthetic pitches not an option because of the Lachlan Premier League’s rules.
Nicholls quickly put to bed any notion of a make-up fixture given there have already been wash-outs earlier in the year, with any attempt at doing so potentially compromising the fairness of the round-robin fixture.
“[It] gets a bit murky towards the end of the season,” he said.
“There’s not enough gaps in the draw to do that. A washout’s a wash-out.”
By contrast, the second grade matches were administered by the Cowra and District Cricket Association.
Scheduled between the Bowling Club and Canowindra at Oliver Oval, and the Valleys and Morongla at Macpherson Oval, were initially re-scheduled to be played at Raudonikus and Rodwell Ovals respectively, where synthetic pitches were available.
However, on Saturday morning, the decision was made to pull the plug, with Rodwell in particular deemed unfit for play.
President Greg Garlick said Raudonikus was almost in a state ready for play, but decided that in light of Rodwell’s condition, it would be unfair to schedule one match and not the other, as well as the OH&S issues the outfields were creating.
“[There was a] big wet, flooded and muddy patch across the Southern [end of the ground],” Garlick said of Rodwell.
“Had anyone twisted an ankle, it was an unsafe ground… [and there is potential for] lawsuits because it is unsafe ground.”
The Lachlan Premier League will reconvene on January 12 with a cross-town showdown between the Valleys and Bowling Club, while the Sportspower Cup will resume on February 2.
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