The final round of the home-and-away season in the A-grade competition was cancelled due to inclement weather, with the three matches scrapped and the top four of Eastern Hill, Broadford, Kilmore and Yea Tigers locked in for the semi-finals this weekend.
In B-grade, two matches were given the okay to go ahead, with Avenel easily accounting for Kilmore and Pyalong enjoying a comprehensive victory over Broadford, while in C-grade three of the four scheduled matches reached their completion with Eastern Hill, Pyalong and Yea Tigers emerging with victories.
SDCA president Ben Trezise said while unfortunate, washed out rounds were just a part of cricket.
“We won’t be able to reschedule the A-grade games we lost last weekend due to the fact that we had already pushed the season back as far as we could,” Trezise said.
“Regardless of whether it is the first round of the year, fifth round of the year or last round of the year, the protocol stays the same and we now forge ahead to finals.”
Having to negotiate a season filled with COVID-19 hurdles, Trezise said he was proud of how the clubs had dealt with the setbacks and managed to get a full home-and-away season completed.
“The season has progressed quite well, to be honest. Obviously we have had a few washouts over the course of it but that happens every season,” he said.
“The most exciting part is that after we started, we didn’t have to stop. Last year we had to take a week off due to COVID-19, so it has been a massive bonus to be able to play through the entire season and I’m very happy with how everyone has handled things.”
With the league now poised for a hectic fortnight of finals action, he outlined the plan of attack if a team was to be wiped out due to COVID-19 issues.
“It is a bit of a take it as it comes-type scenario for us at the moment. There is no official protocol set out by Cricket Victoria for this situation,” he said.
“We would obviously consider rescheduling those COVID-19 affected finals to the following week, but again that comes down to time. We do have reserve days up our sleeve but, at the end of the day, clubs have to hand over the keys to football clubs on April 1, so there is a time limit.”
