READ MORE - EVCA grand finals this weekend now cancelled
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A DISAPPOINTED Emu Creek president Greg Strawbridge says he's struggling to comprehend why at the same time his club was informed there would be no Emu Valley Cricket Association grand final this weekend an AFL match was being played.
The Emus were due to play United in this weekend's EVCA division one grand final.
However, having initially given the green light for the games to go ahead on Wednesday night, the EVCA board reversed its decision on Thursday night to abandon its grand final weekend.
The EVCA decision follows the earlier recommendations from Cricket Australia and Cricket Victoria this week to cancel all cricket in response to the global coronavirus pandemic.
Strawbridge says his club accepts the decision made by the EVCA board and respects the tough position it has been placed in this week, but he's extremely frustrated that there will be AFL games played this weekend while the EVCA - and BDCA - cricket fields will be empty.
"We're extremely disappointed there will be no grand finals played this weekend," Strawbridge said.
"But we want to make it clear we have no animosity towards the EVCA board. We acknowledge they wanted to play the games, but their decision comes down to insurance and recommendations from the powers to be above.
"I guess from my point of view it's hard to comprehend that cricket - a non-contact sport - has been cancelled, yet at the same time we're told we're off there's a game of AFL being played.
I guess from my point of view it's hard to comprehend that cricket - a non-contact sport - has been cancelled, yet at the same time we're told we're off there's a game of AFL being played
- Greg Strawbridge
"I find that really hard to swallow... AFL is fully contact with 36 players on the ground, plus the umpires.
"We play with 15 people on the cricket field - 11 on the fielding side, two batsmen and two umpires and it's non-contact."
Adding to Strawbridge's disappointment is information from the Department of Health that states community sport can continue at this stage, but only essential participants such as players, coaches and match officials can attend.
Strawbridge said the Emu Creek players - who beat top side Spring Gully in a semi-final last weekend - were deflated when told of the cancellation after training on Thursday night.
"It's hard to put into words the disappointment the boys are feeling. They have busted their guts over the past six months and have had to work extremely hard just to make the finals," Strawbridge said.
"We've done it the hard way - we had to beat the top side two weeks in a row (Spring Gully in round 13 and semi-final), but to lose that grand final opportunity is really tough."
The cancellations have cost United the chance of playing in two grand finals this weekend.
As well as the division one game against Emu Creek, the Tigers were also to play Mandurang in the division two decider.
"We're really disappointed we won't be playing," United president Shane Hartney said on Friday.
"When the league asked us on Wednesday about playing, our position was we were prepared to play.
"We sent a letter on behalf of all our players to the association outlining the reasons we wanted to play and learned Wednesday night that the game was going ahead.
"Then we find out on Thursday night, indirectly at first, that the game was off."
With the grand finals having been cancelled, the EVCA must now decide what to do with the awarding of premierships, with a decision to be made on Sunday.
The BDCA also faced the same decision on Thursday night and opted to award its higher ranked grand final teams the 2019-20 premiership.
"We very strongly believe that those two premierships (division one and two) should be awarded to us. As far as we're concerned we think it's fairly clear cut," Hartney said.
United was the higher-ranked grand final side in both division one and division two.
"If the premierships aren't awarded to us we'd be extremely disappointed," Hartney said.
"Personally, I'm not surprised the game has been called off and we understand there would have been a lot of pressure on the board."
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