CRICKETERS get pretty good at waiting – waiting to get a bat, waiting to get a bowl, waiting for the ball to come to them in the field…
And the lead up to the start of the 2024-25 cricket season this Saturday looks like being as waiting game as well.
Two things have injected an element of uncertainty into the first round, as usual the unavailability of grounds due to damp conditions, but also the approaching weather.
The Bureau of Meteorology is calling 1 ml-7 ml of rain with 90% chance of precipitation during the day on Saturday but not necessarily a write off.
Here’s the BOM forecast for Wonthaggi on Saturday: Cloudy. Very high chance of showers, most likely from the late morning. Light winds becoming west to northwesterly 15 to 25 km/h in the morning then becoming light in the evening.
Some matches have already been moved to alternate venues and it’s likely all C Grade matches will be cancelled due to unavailability of venues.
In A Grade Division 1 – OMK v Leongatha Town is still at Outtrim, Phillip Island v Korumburra is likely to be moved to Newhaven, Leongatha Imperials v Wonthaggi Club is still scheduled for the East Campus but there has not yet been a venue nominated for the Nerrena v Koonwarra-RSL match with both the Leongatha Recreation Reserve and Nerrena’s ground reportedly not ready.
In A Grade Division 2 – Nyora v Inverloch is still at Nyora, Foster and Meeniyan is still scheduled for either the Foster Rec or Foster Golf Club but any sort of rain could change that, and Glen Alvie and Killy-Bass have already moved their match to the Dalyston Rec.
Contact your club and cricket authorities for changes.