BPCA announce plans for coming season

THE Bellarine Peninsula Cricket Association (BPCA) has announced the 2020/21 season will begin on October 31, barring any unexpected changes with the COVID-19 situation.

The season will be entirely comprised of one-day fixtures to ensure every team can still play 14 games and face each opposition in both home and away matches.

BPCA president Ian Caldwell said the altered format would allow for some latitude in how the season runs.

“At our delegates meeting we put down the 31st of October as our starting date, allowing for a bit of flexibility.

“In an ideal situation, everybody would play each other twice; once in a one-day and once in a two-day game. But now even with the delayed start we’ve got some free weekends we can use.”

These free weekends will enable matches to be rescheduled if they are washed out or the heat rule comes into play.

Caldwell said after some good communication between the clubs and the BPCA, they had created a format that was both fair and workable.

“We’ve had a delegates meeting which we had discussions through, there’s also been some informal discussion.

“I know there’s a couple of clubs that are very keen to play some two-day matches, and we fully understand where they’re coming from. But to get a draw in and for everyone to be in a similar situation, it just meant that two-day cricket, this season, is not going to be a part of the BDCA.”

Caldwell said while it would be an unusual season in many respects, he was pleased with the outcome.

“It’s going to be different but with everybody working together, and with a bit of give and take, the BDCA and cricket throughout country Victoria will be in a position to be able to get a complete season of play in, which was something that our brothers in the football community weren’t able to do.”