Due to the catastrophic nature of the ongoing bushfire crisis state-wide and its impending threat and potential ramifications, Cricket NSW made the decision to abandon this week's Bradman Cup and Kookaburra Cup tournaments, which were to be played in Albury-Wodonga.
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Cricket NSW had been monitoring the situation for several days prior to Saturday afternoon's announcement and made the call with the safety of travelling players and families to and from Albury and Wodonga along with the air quality and potential threat while in the border cities in mind.
Putting it simply, due to the Upper Murray bushfire crisis, Cricket NSW general manager of cricket performance David Moore said safety couldn't be guaranteed.
Cricket NSW takes pride in caring for our people and this is one time where we could not guarantee the safety of players and families.
- Cricket NSW general manager of cricket performance David Moore
He also said the decision wasn't made without due diligence and came following discussions with Cricket NSW's executive along with the Country Cricket NSW committee of management, of course the tournaments are the latter body's under-16 and under-14 championships.
"Cricket NSW takes pride in caring for our people and this is one time where we could not guarantee the safety of players and families. This includes the safety of travel throughout the state, the air quality, the ... impending threat as well as not being able to guarantee a timely return home," he said.
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"As all would understand, this decision has not been taken lightly. The conditions in our state are unprecedented, including the destruction of properly and nature, mass evacuations of towns and loss of loved ones."
The tournaments were set to be begin on Tuesday morning and run through until Friday before they were abandoned, with Western Zone scheduled to play Riverina in both age groups' competition-openers.
Bathurst had a big presence in the Western Zone Bradman Cup team with Jacob Ryan, Tom Lynch, Cooper Brien and Blake Kreuzberger all selected, while Liam Cain was set to play in the Kookaburra Cup.
With the tournaments' dates and locations set well before the beginning of each summer there appears to be no chance of them being rescheduled, aligning with Cricket NSW's announcement to abandon the carnivals rather than postpone them.
Moore implored all and sundry to continue playing the game where conditions dictate it's possible and made a point of thanking the host zone and its leaders for their continued efforts on the ground.
Thank you to (Cricket Albury-Wodonga chairman) Michael Erdeljac on the hard work and commitment that he has put in to get this combined tournament up and running. Michael's efforts are greatly appreciated both in the lead-up and now to the cancellation of venues and service provision to the tournament," Moore said.
"Thank you also to Riverina Zone administrator David Nichols, who has done a power of work with Michael in getting this tournament to where we were ready to play and then providing Cricket NSW pertinent information regarding due diligence.
"We encourage people to continue to play the game we love in their local areas while safe and to the benefit and enjoyment of our young players."
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Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
