WARRNAMBOOL and District Cricket Association is postponing all senior and junior fixtures for one week as its clubs grapple with COVID-enforced absences.
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Division one and two fixtures are all but certain to resume on January 22. The association will seek updated information from clubs before making a decision on whether division three and four proceeds.
Several outfits are understood to be missing players as either positive COVID-19 cases or close contacts as the omicron variant runs rampant through regional Victoria.
Warrnambool and District Cricket Association Gordon McLeod said feedback from clubs on Monday and Tuesday confirmed the verdict.
He said junior games would be rescheduled and teams who were to play two-day games could instead meet in one-dayers.
Division one and two will definitely play next week. Division three might play, division four might not. It depends on how the numbers add up.
- Gordon McLeod
"A lot of the (opinions) that came back was that some clubs know (how many players they could be missing) but some still had test results not yet back," he said.
"Division one and two will definitely play next week. Division three might play, division four might not. It depends on how the numbers add up."
McLeod said despite the call to postpone, the match committee was conscious it "needed to keep sport happening".
"Otherwise things get stagnant and it probably creates more problems because people aren't playing sport and they're sitting and congregating and that kind of thing," he said.
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"I've had a few clubs say it was probably the right move and a good thing."
McLeod urged clubs to adopt the Cricket Victoria Good Practice guide to reduce the risk of transmission and keep cricket on the field.
"There are little things we can do which can make a difference. We've just got to make sure we don't go outside those to keep cricket continuing," he said.
"If they follow the good practice model, we've just got to do that until we get clear of it I think."
The WDCA's postponement is the latest in a wave across the state. Several associations - including Cricket Shepparton, the Bendigo and District Cricket Association and the Bellarine Peninsula Cricket Association - have put their campaigns on ice due to player shortages.
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