The Bendigo District Cricket Association has urged clubs and players to be patient ahead of a potential return to training and playing.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Premier Daniel Andrews' announcement on Tuesday that regional Victoria would move into step three of the Victorian Government's coronavirus roadmap after 11.59pm Wednesday night had some cricket clubs and players planning training sessions for Thursday.
Outdoor contact and non-contact sport will be permitted for regional Victorians aged 18-and-under, as well as outdoor non-contact sport for adults.
However, BDCA president Travis Harling pleaded for clubs to not commence group training until the league received further guidelines from Cricket Victoria.
"Clubs can't start training yet, there's still some work to be done,'' Harling said.
"We're waiting on return to training guidelines from Cricket Victoria which they hope to have to us by the end of this week.
"Clubs need to book their grounds with council and as part of that they'll need to present a COVID plan. A COVID plan is going to be part of the Cricket Victoria documents that will be sent out, hopefully, this week.
"There's a lot of work for clubs to do around COVID restrictions, so it's not as easy as just starting training on Thursday."
Cricket Victoria recommended regional competitions a season starting date of October 17.
The BDCA has planned to start its season on October 31 and Harling said it was unlikely to move forward to October 31.
"At this stage we'll stay with October 31,'' Harling said.
"The weekend before is AFL grand final day and I don't think the clubs or players will want to play that day.
"We'll put it to the clubs and see what they want to do.
"Clubs will need to be ready on and off the field. Off the field is going to take a lot of preparation."
Read more: Catch up on all the latest cricket news
Cricket Victoria's head of member services Paul Milo said cricket was in the process of finalising the plans to return with authorities.
"We're still working through the finer points around training, number of groups on-field and turf wicket preparation, but we expect we'll have more information to share there in the coming days,'' Milo said.
"We'll also be hosting webinars for clubs and associations over the next week to provide support and guidance as we make our way through this process."
Victorian Country Cricket League president Kelvin White encouraged clubs and associations to be thorough in their preparations.
"We've got a great opportunity to set an example in being COVID-safe and a blueprint for when metropolitan Melbourne may be able to return to play cricket,'' White said.
"It's exciting news for communities across regional Victoria where cricket is such a mainstay of their summers."
Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.
