WARRNAMBOOL cricket officials are disappointed a series of representative football and cricket fixtures ruined the final round of their under 17 grade.
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Four of the five WDCA under 17 matches scheduled on Sunday ended in forfeits after players opted to prioritise other sporting commitments.
Only the Allansford-Nestles Gold match went ahead, with the Factory scoring a 51-run win at Uebergang Oval.
But Koroit, Woodford, Nirranda and Dennington forfeited their matches. The unprecedented scenario had a bearing on the finals make-up.
In the biggest consequence, Port Fairy was denied the chance to secure an unlikely outright victory against Dennington.
Had that happened, and Brierly-Christ Church had lost to Koroit, the Pirates would have leapfrogged the Bulls into fourth spot.
The mass forfeits were due to a scheduling clash with two other events in the region.
The first was Western Waves’ annual challenge against Barwon Rockets, which gives fringe players a chance to press their claims for selection next season.
The second was North Ballarat Rebels’ intra-club clashes at Ararat, at under 16 and under 18 level.
WDCA general manager Michael Harrison yesterday conceded the executive could do little about clashing with the football trials.
But he said Waves officials should have considered the under 17 fixture more before settling on a date for the Waves-Rockets challenge.
“Yesterday there were four games forfeited. I’m not sure if the whole lot were due to the Waves and Rockets games, but three of them were,” he said.
“Plus on top of that, we had North Ballarat’s under 16s in a practice match at Ararat.”
Harrison acknowledged Barwon Rockets officials had a say in the scheduling “but it’s got to consider our draw, which it didn’t”.
“Hopefully something better comes of it,” he said.
Western Waves region manager Stephen Field believed the impact of the Waves-Rockets challenge was minimal at best.
The Waves’ under 17 side featured just three WDCA players. There were none in the under 16s and five in the under 15s.
“When this date was agreed to, which was a long time ago, it was based on the fact there were no finals around the region,” he said.
“We had to squeeze it in between the Sungold Cup, we had to make sure that had taken place, the end of the pathway program and the start of finals.
“Unfortunately we were left with two Sundays to play on.”
afawkes@fairfaxmedia.com.au
