Those were the words of Orange District Junior Cricket Association president Jo Hunter after the decision was made to cancel the annual Western NSW Cricket Carnivals for the time in 25 years.

The event was set to run from January 4-11 with 21 with teams from around the region, including Dubbo, to be joined by many from Sydney.

Having those sides and so many people from the state's current COVID hot-spot heading to Orange was a risk Hunter deemed to be unnecessary.

"You can't say there's no risk of someone bringing COVID to Orange," Hunter said.

"As a group of volunteers, we don't want to be responsible for something like that happening.

"It's disappointing but the greater responsibility lies with our community... we've got to keep the bigger picture in mind."

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A little over a week ago, ODJCA gave Sydney sides the opportunity to withdraw from the carnival, an option none of the teams took.

"I think part of the drawcard for these city teams is coming to Orange during a quiet time of the year," she said.

"We wanted to give them a heads up and give them an opportunity to get money back on accommodation and things like that.

"Everyone was keen to be able to get out of Sydney and play some cricket but once we announced it was cancelled, everyone felt it was a completely reasonable and understandable decision."

While it's no major hit to the teams that were scheduled to be involved, several business will lose out on revenue due to the cancellation, a factor Hunter addressed as well.

"A lot of people and places have already taken a hit this year but the impact would be bigger if a COVID case came to Orange and we had to lock down for 14 days," she said.

"There's been a lot of work to go into it up and until this point. It's a great fundraiser for cricket at Orange and it allows us to subsidise the cost of playing and support council for the improvement of cricket facilities.

"Everyone benefits from this tournament but again, we've got to keep the bigger picture in mind."

The cancellation of the carnival means junior cricketers will be out of action until the resumption of the regional zone competition in February.