VICTORIAN Premier Cricket (VPC) officials say they would have little hesitation bringing Bush Bash matches back to the south-west.
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VPC manager Peter Binns said the four clubs which played at Reid Oval and Avery’s Paddock had provided positive feedback about the weekend.
The verdict comes despite contrasting ratings for the playing conditions at the two venues.
Reid Oval received maximum marks — four, on a scale of zero to four — from the umpires for the pitch and outfield.
The captains who played at the ground were less generous, rating both the pitch and outfield a three.
Avery’s Paddock received the same ratings from the umpires and captains — two for the pitch and three for the outfield.
Binns said the ratings justified the decision to bring VPC matches to the region.
He said WDCA officials should consider a “two” rating for the Avery’s Paddock pitch a good thing.
“There is absolutely nothing wrong with a two or a three rating, that won’t affect them in the future whatsoever,” he said. “Best-case scenario is you get games every second year. We try and share it around these days.
“What we found is if we left it up to the clubs, they’d go back to the same place every year when it was their turn to find a host.
“This year we ramped it up and asked for expressions of interest and made the country associations jump through a few hoops.
“The WDCA, to their credit, put forward a really good submission and they’ve certainly ticked all the boxes.”
Binns said having multiple clubs play Twenty20 matches at regional venues was the best format for the Bush Bash. The timing of the weekend also worked well in generating interest for the Big Bash League, which starts on December 20.
“That’s why we timed our Twenty20 as part of the Premier program at this time, a) to create a bit of interest around the Twenty20s,” Binns said.
“But b) we were hoping a few more of the BBL players would be involved.”