PITCHES went unoccupied across the city on Saturday as the Bathurst District Cricket Association committee called off all senior cricket due to the day’s extreme heat.
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With the mercury hitting 41 degrees in Bathurst the association was forced to pull the plug on the day’s action several hours before it was due to get underway.
BDCA president Campbell Graham said it was one of the toughest decision he and the committee had to make since he had held the position.
“It was a very tough call. It’s not an ideal situation obviously but the association has a duty of care for the players. We made the decision and we backed ourselves on it,” he said.
“We copped a barrage of comments and criticism on social media. But on Friday we put out a statement that we would be playing and people weren’t happy when we did that as well.
“The consequences from if something were to happen in the field, I would hate to think about it.”
The cancellation affected the second day of action in most grades.
In first grade only Bathurst City will walk away with a win, after achieving first innings points against Centennials Bulls.
Whether matches will be finished at a later date is not yet known.
“Obviously the committee will decide on that. It can be very hard to resume a game, given it’s the second day of a two-day match. You want the same players who were originally available for that match, so if they can’t play then that throws a bit of a curveball,” Graham said.
“Any game where a team has first innings points they will keep those. Bonus points from the first day also stay.”
BDCA currently does not have a heat policy set in place.
Graham said there would be a discussion at season’s of putting something more “black and white" in writing.
“We don’t have a set degree where we call it off … but at the end of the day this is something we will have to learn from and set ourselves for in the future. The committee had to make a call on something we don’t have set down on paper,” he said.
“At the end of the season we will sit down and work out what’s best for the players, sit down with the clubs and get their feedback.”
Redbacks will take the points from their match while the other two first grade fixtures are left up in the air for now.
Rugby Union were sitting at 9-325 after the first week’s play against City Colts at Loco Oval. The match was a crucial fixture for both clubs, and may have gone a long way to determining who finishes inside the top two at season’s end.
The game between ORC and St Pat’s Old Boys was anyone’s for the taking. Saints were 2-40 in their chase of 166 runs. Saturday’s news puts a dent in both teams’ finals chances.
