Blues in pitch to council

Turf wicket at second oval could head off switch

WINCHELSEA’S future in the GCA could hinge on an unlikely bid to install a turf wicket at Eastern Reserve.

Blues stalwart Matthew Tench revealed the club was exploring possible moves to the BPCA or the Colac and District Cricket Association amid a stalemate with council and the ground’s committee.

The GCA’s divisional restructure has cut hard-wicket clubs away from turf clubs, prompting fears over the standard of competition in the hard-wicket division.

Winchelsea is in discussions with Surf Coast Shire and Eastern Reserve’s board of management, with the ground’s custodians reluctant to install turf on the main oval.

Instead, the board of management wants to put turf on a neighbouring oval, which is subject to the sale of private land.

But Tench, who is also a member of the GCA’s board of management, admitted the delay on the installation of turf could force the Blues to seek a new association as early as the coming season.

“We’re still trying to install a turf wicket at Eastern Reserve, but we’re finding it increasingly difficult to get a positive response from the local board of management and council,” he said.

“As a directive of the club committee, we were asked to pursue alternatives to the GCA because we are yet to get a structure put forward by the GCA on the hard-wicket clubs.

“There’s a bit of concern about the standard we’re going to be playing, so the approach was made to the BPCA and we met with them on Wednesday.

“They put their case forward and we put our case forward and from there we will wait.

“We put a letter to the local council and told them our concerns and asked that they speed up the process on our turf wicket, and if we don’t get the response we want, we will have to call a special general meeting to discuss it with all the members of our club as to what they want to do.

“We can’t make a decision as a committee, it has to be made by the everyone at the club, including life members.”

Winchelsea Football Club has voiced its concerns against a turf wicket, while the board of management is determined to install turf on a second oval.

Surf Coast Shire mayor Brian McKiterick said it was recommended to council at a meeting in October 2016 that a turf wicket on the main oval was “not in the best long-term interests of the reserve”.

“The 2015 Eastern Reserve Masterplan identifies a future second oval at the venue including a turf wicket,” McKiterick said. “The timing of this additional oval is subject to several factors, including the pur- chase of land and the growth of the town, and so is considered a longer-term proposition.”

Barry Stevens, a former president of the football section and current board of management member, said plans for another ground were edging closer to fruition.

“We’ve been told it’s pretty close to being finalised, so it’s a matter of the owner and the Surf Coast Shire coming to an agreement on what the land’s worth,” Stevens said. “But at the moment the owner has all of his land for sale, which has changed the boundaries a bit.”

Stevens said the board was eager to fast-track talks with council, but remained hamstrung.

Tench said the club’s preference was to remain in the GCA, but revealed club officials had explored moved to the BPCA and Colac.