The Bendigo District Cricket Association is keeping a close eye on how the current COVID-19 restrictions are affecting community sport.
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A summer COVID-19 lockdown, a flexible fixture and the availability of Melbourne-based players are just some of the issues the BDCA board and clubs will discuss at meetings in the next few weeks.
The recent COVID-19 lockdown and travel restrictions have caused plenty of headaches for local football administrators and BDCA president Travis Harling is keen to get on the front foot as the league prepares for its new season in October.
"Even though we have a lot of time before cricket season starts we're certainly looking at what's happening,'' Harling said.
"We want to be well prepared for scenarios that could happen during cricket season."
The Melbourne travel restrictions have hit football and netball clubs hard in recent weeks.
While not as many Melbourne-based cricketers travel to central Victoria to play, Harling said it was an issue the league would investigate.
"If you introduced a hard and fast rule (in terms of blocking Melbourne-based players from playing in the BDCA), the challenge would be how you policed it,'' Harling said.
"We'll put it to the clubs and see what they think about it."
The league introduced a full season of one-day matches last summer to ensure the fixture was flexible had a lockdown eventuated.
The league lost one round because of COVID-19 restrictions when the state government implemented a five-day lockdown in mid-February.
While the one-day season was a success, clubs voted in favour of returning to the league's traditional format of nine two-day games and four one-day matches for the 2021-22 season.
Harling said the shape of the BDCA fixture would be discussed at the next board meeting, but he declared nothing was set in concrete for this summer.
"Being flexible with what we do with the fixture is something we need to discuss as a board and with the clubs,'' he said.
Two-day cricket will be back in the first and second XI, while a decision on the format for all other grades is still to be worked through.
The format of the returning Twenty20 competition will also be a discussion point in planning for 2021-22.
Read more: Catch up on all the latest cricket news
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