The Gunnedah District Cricket Association will meet next week to discuss reversing a decision to delay the start of the second-grade competition until community sport is open to all participants regardless of whether they have been fully vaccinated or not.
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Delaying the competition until December 1 may result in players "drifting off and not coming back", GDCA president Andrew Johns warned.
The second-grade competition has been put on hold because it was feared there would not be enough players to sustain it due to the state government requirement that people have to be fully vaccinated to participate in community sport until December 1.
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Johns said: "I understand there's going to be a motion raised at the next general meeting to reserve that decision [to delay second grade] and start playing from next Saturday [November 6] ... if players don't start till December, they may drift off and not come back.
"So we're just trying to keep those second-grade guys engaged."
Johns said every club had "a few" players who were not fully vaccinated.
He said his club, Mornington, was "expecting to have two strong teams, and we're struggling to get one team at the moment".
"But numbers are gonna be a lot better next week, as far as I know."
GDCA senior vice-president Rhyce Kliendienst - the Mornington captain - expects the season to initially be "a bit shaky" player-number wise, with forfeits a distinct possibility.
"But as the season progresses it'll go all right," he said, adding "the second half of the season will be our strongest".
Kliendienst said a minimum of eight players was required for a team to play a match, although that number was not "compatible" to delivering a competitive contest.
Compounding the problem of some players not having two vaccine doses, he said, was the fact that harvesting had begun and would continue through to the end of December.
A number of players worked on farms, he said.
On Saturday, Albion and Kookaburras meet at Wolseley Oval while Court House and Mornington clash at Kitchener Park.
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Mark Bode
I’m passionate about writing stories that resonate with people. And I’m genuinely interested in the people I interview; I want to know about them and present their stories in a meaningful way.
I’m passionate about writing stories that resonate with people. And I’m genuinely interested in the people I interview; I want to know about them and present their stories in a meaningful way.
