ALL sanctioned Bendigo District Cricket Association matches have been halted for two weeks to give clubs the chance to deal with the impact of rising COVID cases in the region.
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The BDCA board's decision to enact a two-week season pause on Wednesday night includes all games and training and came on the same day Greater Bendigo recorded a new daily coronavirus case record of 91.
The BDCA senior season and women's competition were both scheduled to resume from their Christmas-New Year break this weekend.
However, there will be no games played either this weekend or the following weekend, while the Twenty20 competition will also be impacted.
The resumption of the BDCA junior season falls outside the two-week timeframe.
Wednesday night's meeting followed three clubs - Eaglehawk, Golden Square and White Hills - cancelling training on Tuesday night due to COVID concerns.
The two-week season pause comes on the back of the BDCA having had to earlier delay the start of its 2021-22 competition to November 13 because of COVID community sport restrictions.
"We've informed our clubs that we're pausing the season for two weeks... it's no training or playing; it's two weeks away from any group activity," BDCA president Travis Harling said on Thursday.
We've informed our clubs that we're pausing the season for two weeks... it's no training or playing; it's two weeks away from any group activity
- Travis Harling - BDCA president
"We've made the decision based on community health and safety.
"It's not every club, but most clubs came back to us yesterday and have been severely impacted by cases; six, seven, eight or nine in some instances, so we've agreed just to pause for a couple of weeks to allow those who have contracted COVID over the new year period to be able to isolate and get over it and we're obviously mindful of the DHHS numbers for our region."
Harling has no doubt that had there not been a pause placed on the season over the next two weeks there would have been forfeits throughout the grades due to the inability of some clubs to field teams with the number of their players isolating.
Harling said there had been no decision made yet as to whether the games scheduled over the next two weekends would be re-fixtured or would be drawn matches, similar to a washout.
Re-scheduling in an attempt to keep an 18-round home and away season for the senior competition would seemingly pose a challenge given an already busy fixture ahead that includes Sunday games on February 6 and March 6, plus the Twenty20 competition.
"On the provision that this is only a two-week pause, we'll look at what our options are with the clubs," Harling said.
On the provision that this is only a two-week pause, we'll look at what our options are with the clubs
- Travis Harling - BDCA president
"When we put the draw out it was nice and neat with everyone playing each other twice (18 rounds of one-day matches), but it may be that we now have to play a 16-round season.
"If we're to pick up these two rounds it's another two Sundays we have to play and we already have two Sundays already scheduled in still to come. We'll assess the best way forward with what we do and that's the same with the Twenty20 as well... we may have to extend that competition out a bit."
The Twenty20 grand final is fixtured to be played on February 16 at the QEO.
This is now the third season that the BDCA has been interrupted by COVID.
COVID forced the abandonment of the 2019-20 grand final; there was one round lost last season during a snap Victorian lockdown; and now this two-week hiatus.
"Before the weekend of January 15 we will meet again and re-assess the situation," Harling said.
"If we're comfortable that clubs can start training again the following week then we will resume, but if clubs are still struggling we will have to re-assess."
BDCA first XI games that had been scheduled over the next two weeks:
January 8 - White Hills v Eaglehawk, Sandhurst v Golden Square, Bendigo United v Strathdale-Maristians, Kangaroo Flat v Huntly-North Epsom; Bendigo v Strathfieldsaye.
January 15 - Golden Square v White Hills, Strathfieldsaye v Sandhurst, Strathdale-Maristians v Eaglehawk, Huntly-North Epsom v Bendigo United, Bendigo v Kangaroo Flat.
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