By Marcus Uhe
The scourge of the weather gods has returned to haunt local cricket once again, with not a single ball bowled in DDCA Turf 1 on Saturday due to rain and playing conditions.
In a season already significantly altered due to rain, after administrators put a line through two-day cricket early in the campaign as a result of losing multiple fixtures, it was hardly the result that clubs in the bottom half of the ladder would have been seeking, as they look to avoid relegation.
While in the premier half of the ladder, the battle for a critical top-two spot between Springvale South, Buckley Ridges and Hallam Kalora Park will remain on a knife’s-edge for another week.
North Dandenong’s visit to Springvale South to face the Bloods, and Narre South’s clash with Buckley Ridges, were both scrapped just after 9am on Saturday morning.
Hallam Kalora Park and St Mary’s fixture at Hallam Rec Reserve was the next domino to fall, after both sides were asked to report to grounds.
Berwick and Parkmore Pirates, meanwhile, were forced to wait until just before 2pm before being told by field umpires that no cricket would be played.
There was hope that they could get on the field later in the day, but wet patches around the centre-wicket area ruled-out the prospects of a contest, due to safety reasons.
In a bizarre twist of fate that only a sport like cricket could produce, players from both sides departed Arch Brown Reserve in emerging sunshine, with no rain having fallen for the best part of an hour before the decision was made.
For Springvale South, it means its unbeaten season continues, having won eight games and drawn twice, with weather also intervening on those drawn fixtures.
North Dandenong will be frustrated, too, as a victory could have furthered the two-win gap between themselves in fourth and Narre South and St Mary’s, tied for fifth on points.
The Maroons have 30 premiership points, 12 ahead of the Lions and St Mary’s on 18.
Barring a miracle, in which Gavin Lehman’s Pirates win their three remaining contests against Hallam Kalora Park, Narre South and Springvale South, and gain significant percentage, and see Berwick, Narre South, North Dandenong and St Mary’s lose their final fixtures, the washout means Parkmore have been eliminated from finals contention.
