Better safe than sorry: Coutas stand by Covid call

QUEENSCLIFF has defended the way it handled the postponement of three BPCA matches last week after a Covid scare swept through the club.

A Covid-positive person attended Queenscliff’s season launch and women’s match on November 14 but the club was unaware until four days later, forcing the majority of its playing group to be ruled out of fixtures on November 20 as they were undergoing testing.

The entire group returned negative tests but the games were postponed, with the BPCA allowing Queenscliff and its opponents – Anglesea in A and B-grade and Little River in D-grade – to reschedule matches whenever they could agree.

The Coutas and Roos have started talks on rescheduling the higher-tier matches and Queenscliff is keen to work with Little River to play the other game.

Anglesea president Brett Venables questioned the cancellation of the matches last weekend by suggesting enough players would have returned negative tests by Saturday to play at least the Agrade fixture.

“I’d be staggered if Queenscliff don’t have 11 members who could play cricket. I believe A-grade should be playing,” Venables told the Addy last week.

But Queenscliff president Mat Toohey said his club was focused on health. “I understand Anglesea wanted to play but our main concern was just on safety,” Toohey said.

“If someone infected (with Covid) played for us and infected (an Anglesea player) it could have spread quickly, so we put safety first. It’s just a game of cricket and it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Queenscliff is unlikely to be the last club hit by Covid during the season.

Toohey said his club reacted quickly when it found out about the case and its rooms underwent a deep clean, with all relevant people quickly told to go and get tested.

He said cancelling games outright was not the way forward this summer and the BPCA’s policy of giving the clubs a chance to make other plans worked best.

“I think the league has done the right thing trying to reschedule games because everyone wants to play cricket,” Toohey said.

“If you missed out on three or four games a year it could cost you finals. I think you have to give the teams the opportunity to replay games.”