AN INDEPENDENT tribunal has upheld a Warrnambool and District Cricket Association decision to strip points from Port Fairy in a move which denied the Pirates a one-day grand final berth.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The association deducted 0.125 one-day points from Port Fairy after it failed to submit a compulsory captain’s report after a round seven victory.
The decision meant Port Fairy slipped from first place in the Hopkins conference, lifting Russells Creek into the one-day final.
Port Fairy delegate Richard Hodgens argued the rule had been breached by a number of clubs with penalties issued on an “ad hoc” basis.
He claimed points should be deducted from the overall division one table instead of the one-day ladder.
Match committee chairman Bruce Membrey said Nirranda was the only other division one club to receive a warning for failing to submit a captain’s report this season.
Membrey said the committee hadn’t penalised the Knights as their regular captain had been overseas at the time and had a near-perfect record with paperwork.
Hodgens also argued the club received an email warning of a looming penalty from the match committee but misinterpreted it due to grammatical errors.
After deliberation, the tribunal found in favour of the match committee.
“We were in the wrong, but the process we’ve been through shows there are issues,” Hodgens said after the hearing. “It seemed they wanted to make us a scapegoat and set an example instead of taking in the rules.”
