The start of the Tamworth cricket season on Saturday will be staged in an environment unlike any previous season.
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First, Tamworth's long-reigning No 1 summer sport has found itself amid a cluttered sporting landscape.
The Northern Inland Football finals commence on Saturday and round three of the Wests Entertainment Group Nines will be held at Scully Park on Saturday night.
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COVID-19 is responsible for that unique sporting menu: the soccer season will finish later than normal because it started later than normal due to the pandemic.
While the inaugural WEG 9s was launched to give players and fans some rugby league action this year, after COVID resulted in the cancellation of the Group 4 season.
Adding to the unique flavour of the 2020-21 cricket season launch is the myriad COVID-19 protocols games will be played under.
They include no team huddles, high fives, hand-shaking or other physical contact, and no use of saliva or sweat on the ball.
The ball must be rolled near the stumps or placed next to the stumps at the non-strikers end when there is a break in play.
Other measure include umpires being barred from handling the ball and players' hats, while players are urged to bring their own gear.
Spitting is outlawed.
Meanwhile, a Cricket NSW directive means there will be no two-day cricket played before the Christmas break, with the one-day and Twenty20 competitions concluded before the break.
Cricket NSW "encouraged" all community competitions to "prioritise" the playing of one-day cricket this season "to allow the commencement and completion of games within a single day".
"This will avoid potential 'no results' or issues with player availability or substitutions if community sport is disrupted during the season due to COVID-19," it said.
Ben Middlebrook, Tamworth District Cricket Association president, said the current environment was "all a bit new to us". "But hopefully we can have a successful launch ... and go from there," he said.
Middlebrook said it was "hard to judge" the shape of the clubs, player wise, ahead of the opening round.
It's all a bit new to us.
- Ben Middlebrook on the unusual cricket season launch
"We've still got soccer going and COVID," he said.
"So I think half the clubs are doing well for numbers and the other half have got enough numbers to get through this weekend. But we'll see how we go as the season develops."
The season will start with three one-dayers. City United and Old Boys clash at No 1 Oval, North Tamworth and Bective-East meet at Riverside 2 and South Tamworth encounter West Tamworth at Riverside 1.
