Bendigo’s wet September has forced the Bendigo District Cricket Association to postpone round one.
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The season was scheduled to start with a one-day game on October 8, but Bendigo’s big wet has made it impossible for club curators to have turf wickets ready for round one.
“Getting a wicket up at some grounds would be probably okay, albeit the wickets would be very slow,’’ BDCA chairman Wayne Walsh said.
“Getting tractors on to grounds to cut outfields is just as big an issue at the moment because everything is so wet.
“There’s more rain forecast in the next as well. Even though we can’t be sure how much more rain we’ll get, we think it’s better to be cautious and give the grounds and the curators an extra week to be ready.
“We’ll try to fit in round one somewhere else in the draw so that we still have a 13-round season.”
The BDCA will now start with a two-day fixture on October 15 and 22.
Day two will clash with the Victorian Premier Cricket game between Carlton and Casey-South Melbourne at the QEO.
“At this stage we’ll play round two as scheduled, but because we have the Premier Cricket game on October 22 we’ll look to start those games half an hour earlier to give players the best opportunity to get to the QEO to watch the second half of the Premier Cricket game,’’ Walsh said.
“The third XI and under-18 matches would also start 30 minutes earlier. To make it fair on both teams we’d need to start both days play 30 minutes earlier.”
BDCA draw for round two on October 15-22: Strathfieldsaye v Sandhurst, White Hills v Kangaroo Flat, Bendigo v Huntly-North Epsom, Bendigo United v Golden Square, Eaglehawk v Strathdale-Maristians.