GCA delays start

THE Geelong Cricket Association has given itself some “breathing space” by delaying the start of its season by at least two weeks in a move that could give local football competitions a window to complete their seasons.

The association announced on Friday that the season would not start until October 16 at the earliest.

The GFL and BFL are two of the last football leagues left standing in Victoria and AFL Barwon is yet to put a line through the season.

It comes following the latest easing of restrictions in regional Victoria.

But this week’s state government announcement does not allow for community sport to resume until at least the end of September.

Clubs can only train in small groups in the meantime.

GCA president Rob Vines (pictured) said delaying round 1 was the “prudent thing to do”.

“The easing of restrictions, which has allowed a return to training, meant clubs could theoretically get ready for a season start (on October 2), but the ongoing uncertainty whether the government will allow the playing of cricket remains,” Vines said.

“We just thought we needed to relieve the pressure cooker a bit. We know we have a degree of flexibility in our fixtures, which can enable us to handle a small delay to the season.

“We thought in the circumstances, it was a sensible decision to take just to try provide a bit of certainty in an ongoing environment of uncertainty.”

Vines said the decision would have “implications” for the chances of two-day games.

“The playing of two-day cricket is more about whether the overall Covid risks have lifted enough in the second half of the season to enable us to believe that two-day cricket is the prudent thing to do,” he said.

“The minute you move into two-day mode, you do remove a lot of fixture flexibility.

“This is about giving us a bit of breathing space to be able to see where things might be in the couple of weeks’ time.”

Vines said the delay could provide an “opportunity” for football chiefs to award premierships.

“It’s just one of the possible consequences,” he said.

“It was driven by our desire to provide a bit of certainty for our clubs about when we saw our season potentially starting.”