DUBBO District Cricket Association president Jeff Shanks believes the right call was made to abandon play in all three grades on Saturday, despite fine and sunny conditions prevailing in the afternoon.
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About 20mm of rain fell on Friday night and Saturday morning, and while the turf wickets were covered and in good condition, surface water on the outfields of the respective grounds made play impossible.
“We had to make a call and I think we made the right one in the end. The grounds committee just didn’t see things drying out sufficiently in time for there to be any play” Shanks said.
“To the players’ credit all the turf wickets had been covered and were fine but there was just a fair bit of water laying on the fields.
“We have a rule that we can start play up until 3pm but with the wet winter and spring we’ve had the water just doesn’t have anywhere to soak in. I suppose the frustrating thing about it was that we made a call and not long after the sun was out.
“We could have kept games on and told players to be at the grounds at 1pm but there’s nothing cricketers hate more than turning up, waiting a couple of hours and then being told they can’t play anyway.”
As a result of the washout, changes have been made to the top two grades while third grade will continue as per the original draw.
Matches in the RSL-Whitney Cup and RSL-Pinnington Cup that were scheduled to be played as two-day contests will now become one-day fixtures, while the RSL-Kelly Cup will push on to round four.
It means first grade and second grade now enter a stretch of 11 straight one-day fixtures.
The changes to the fixturing means teams that had been selected and nominated can now be altered
“Play hasn’t commenced in any of the first and second grade games so teams can be renamed and adjusted as the clubs desire,” Shanks said.
“There might have been players who weren’t playing but now can and they can slot back into sides.
“Also, because the format of the game has changed from a two-dayer to a one-dayer teams might want to choose guys who are suited to the shorter style.
“Effectively round two of the top two grades hasn’t started yet, and third grade is all one-day games so they name new teams every week anyway."