Cricket ACT's second one-day competition of the season began in earnest on Saturday, but ran into the persistent rain that has plagued this entire summer.
The rain settled in just after midday and never left, rendering the first weekend of the recently minted seven-round 50-over competition a complete washout.
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It meant another frustrating weekend for local clubs, which were asked to vote this week on abolishing the two-day competition in favour of another one-day league due to constant Covid impacts on playing groups..
That vote won via a narrow 5-3 majority, which led Cricket ACT to develop a one-off 50-over competition. In contrast to the annual 50-over John Gallop Cup, players will wear whites and use a red ball for the rest of this summer.
Initially the league had planned to stage a three-round, two-day competition, with clubs split into pools of four.
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ANU was one of the three clubs keen to retain two-day cricket this season, but coach Andrew Dawson said he could see the positive of playing more 50-over matches.
"We only played two one dayers [due to rain] out of the whole first part of the comp," Dawson said.
"Playing one-day cricket for the rest of the summer, from a coaching perspective, at least it gives the guys more batting and more bowling.
"You lose one day to poor weather [in a two-day match], there goes one sixth of your playing time, Then you're relying on everybody else to get washed out."
James Buckley
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
