By Marcus Uhe
The intriguing relegation battle in the Dandenong District Cricket Association’s Turf 1 competition could be determined off the field with Narre South to appeal a critical six-point deduction handed down on Monday 17 February.
The penalty is a result of the pitch at its home ground of Strathaird Reserve on Saturday not meeting the satisfaction of the umpires and breaching Rule 13.1 of the DDCA’s senior rules.
Rule 13.1 states that “Grounds, pitches and boundaries shall be prepared properly to the satisfaction of the umpires on each day of play. Where these are not prepared properly, a club shall be dealt with, as the Executive Committee deems fit.”
DDCA Executive member and vice president Marcus Coutts observed the pitch in question, which he said “didn’t appeared to be cut.”
Line markings were prepared but the surface had wet patches in certain areas.
The Lions were scheduled to host Dandenong West, but play did not commence.
Narre South is now languishing in last place on the Turf 1 ladder, six points back from Dandenong West, Beaconsfield and North Dandenong, all tied on 24 points.
Club president Nathan Tracy confirmed on Tuesday 18 February that the club would appeal the sanction, but chose not to comment further on the matter.
DDCA president Hilary Wijarante described the sanction as a “serious penalty”.
“We’re talking a loss of points and if clubs don’t take notice then they could end up in the same situation,” he said.
“It’s significant and I think the match committee has taken that into account when they made the decision to take points off.
“We understand that City of Casey clubs do their own curation but the expectation is that you engage someone who’s qualified to prepare the wickets.
“This is something that we want to highlight to all clubs, that the turf wicket policy is significant and we want all clubs to be aware of it.
“All we can go on is the expectation of the umpires and if you were playing cricket you would expect – keep the weather aside – the expectation is that a wicket will be prepared, that’s a basic ingredient in being able to play cricket.”
The Lions face Dandenong West in a one-day contest in round 13 and Berwick in round 14, both at home.
