Practice game this Sunday: Players who missed out in the Sixths plus others

Phill King is organising a practice match for the players picked to represent our Sixth Eleven in selection on Thursday night, but who will now not play due to an extraordinary fixturing debacle by the NWMCA.

These players are all missing out on a game of cricket due to this bungle. Phill hopes that the Sunday practice match will at least give our players some good match practice.

The game will be held at our Ormond Park home ground on Sunday - where the Round 4 (Week 5) match had been scheduled to be played - starting at 1pm. There will be an afternoon tea prepared for our players.

Phill would like to see all members of the team selected on Thursday night - Nipun Bhargava, John Brelis, Adam Buriani, Dinny Cleary, Riley Harry-Blackall, James Howes, Phill King (capt), Tanya McDonald, Shaun Rayment, Sainath Tavate, Nick Webster.

He would also be keen to see the other players who were available but missed out on selection - Peter Fenaughty, Richard Cooney, Joe Ansaldo, Peter Legato, Chris Bibby, Nick Taylor, Charlie Walker, and anyone else who wants a game, including those who have played Saturday.

To confirm your availability, please phone Phill King on 0419 185 450.

The NWMCA has advised it intends to reschedule the Sixths game, but this will cause many problems for us.

Briefly:

NWMCA officials phoned us on Thursday night, well after selection had been finalised and teams read out to ask us to change the game to a Saturday because the opposition club could not put a team together for the Sunday.

When we advised that selection had been finished and all the requirements of players being available or unavailable on particular days had been factored into the team make-ups, the NWMCA then opted to abandon the match.

With player non-availability on the Saturday, we would not have been able to put together an Eleven for a change of date at such short notice. The NWMCA advised it wold reschedule the game at some later date - but due to the debacle we had 11 selected players who will now not have a game to play this weekend.

Some of the problems created for us by the NWMCA which we expect to encounter in a rescheduled match are:

*A group of players will have to play two games on the one weekend
*This is not feasible for some players, such as older blokes (incapable of backing up), young players (school and other commitments) and people who devote one day of the weekend to cricket and the other to their family.
*It suited us to play this game on the Round 4 scheduled date because our Eighths had a fortnight off due to the Spring racing carnival and we had a good range of players to select from.
*We will have to in effect select nine teams (instead of eight) for the weekend when the game is rescheduled.
*We do not have a spare Sunday to reschedule the game at Ormond Park - our Fourths play on Ormond East on all weekends when the Sixths aren't at home.
*We do not know the eligibility criteria for a make-up match - whether players who have been slotted into another game this weekend, or who are normally in the squad for the Sixths, are disqualified from the make-up game.
*They may be selected in another team on the yet-to-be-determined date of the make-up game.
*We may be forced to play it as a Saturday game at the home ground of the club which was  unable to put the team together for the original date.

Our Club was extremely unhappy at the NWMCA decision to abandon the game, and advised it so. We are concerned we will be significantly disadvantaged in having to play it at a later date.

Charlie Walker.
President, Moonee Valley Cricket Club.

P