ACCESS to Kerang is still the prevailing issue holding back the start of the Northern District Cricket Association (NDCA) season.
While the town was now accessible by the south and west routes, it meant little for the competition, with the roads to Murrabit and Koondrook needing to open before the sound of ball striking willow can be heard around Gannawarra again.
NDCA president Tim Coote spoke to the Gannawarra Times and said although clubs were back training, it still wasn’t feasible to begin competitive games.
“We discussed it last week and until there’s better access to Kerang, we can’t start the league side of things,” he said.
“As soon as we can all get from town to town, we’re keen to go, but until we know a bit more, there’s not much we can do.
“I haven’t spoken with Murrabit Cricket Club yet as they’re still struggling with Benjeroop and Murrabit West on a few farms, so there are more important things going on than cricket, but I had a word with Kerang Cricket Club, and they are raring to get cracking.”
The season’s format will have to be changed after missing a significant chunk of the season already.
Coote said it would depend on when it can start, but there will be alterations to the fixture no matter the date.
“Our T20 competition was meant to be just before Christmas, but if we start in early December, we might just play T20s until the break and then go to 40 overs afterwards.”
Junior cricket will also be affected.
“We went back to two-day games this season in juniors but will most likely have to return to one-day contests just to get a whole season in our under-13s competition.”
Luckily all grounds have been unaffected by the floodwaters, which allowed a couple of clubs to get on the park for some practice and intra-club games over the weekend.
