Coomoora Cricket Club was stripped of its place in the DDCA one-day grand final after talented batsman Corey Wilkinson was deemed ineligible to play finals.By Glen Atwell
COOMOORA Cricket Club will not contest the Dandenong District Cricket Association (DDCA) one-day grand final despite winning its semi-final against Cranbourne on Saturday.
Coomoora won the game by 27 runs, but the win was awarded to Cranbourne on Monday night after the DDCA ruled Coomoora player Corey Wilkinson was ineligible to play finals.
Wilkinson scored 69 runs in a match-winning innings, but was later deemed to have played only six games in the regular season – one short of the seven required to play finals.
According to SportzVault, which holds the DDCA’s online scores, Wilkinson played in seven games, but DDCA rules and permits committee chairman Neil Shaw said the validity of one of those games was questionable.
“Our final decision was that Wilkinson played six games, therefore was ineligible to play finals, meaning Coomoora was stripped of its semi-final win,” he said.
“On SportzVault, Coomoora had entered Wilkinson as a player in seven games, but one of those records was entered a couple of weeks after the match was played.”
The questionable record was entered on the scorecard for a game played on Saturday, 10 February – the last time Cranbourne and Coomoora met.
Wilkinson was listed as the number 10 batsman and did not bat, did not bowl and did not take a catch.
Wilkinson normally wields the willow at number six.
Shaw said the DDCA’s senior recorder Sue Sizer noticed the anomaly during a routine audit.
“All players are audited during finals and Sue discovered that Wilkinson may not have played seven games,” he said.
“The committee investigated and confirmed that only six of his games could be properly verified.”
Shaw said the league had to take a firm stance on the issue.
“It’s the right thing to do. Clubs cannot field ineligible players,” he said.
Cranbourne Cricket Club secretary Leigh Angus said the decision was bittersweet.
“We had no idea that Coomoora was fielding an ineligible player,” he said.
“The one-day side thought it had lost fair and square, so commiserated accordingly.
“To then be notified that the team is in the grand final, it was definitely a surprise.”
Angus said the DDCA had requested the scoresheet after the game, but had no idea that Wilkinson was being investigated.
When Star called Coomoora vice-president Travis Kent, he was unaware of the DDCA’s decision to reverse the match result.
“(DDCA committeeman) Ray Nicholls was down at the club on Sunday night, but as far as we are aware Corey had played enough games to qualify,” he said.
Coomoora president Hilary Wijeratne could not be contacted before going to press.
