AS Victorian double-dose vaccination numbers rise, Sunraysia Cricket Association’s (SCA) president says player vaccination guidelines are unlikely to delay the start of 2021-22 SCA competitions on November 5.
SCA president Mick Thompson’s comments followed recent guidelines from Cricket NSW which required cricketers who trained or played in NSW to be double vaccinated.
“Any club that travels to NSW to play, their players will have to be double vaccinated before they’re allowed to play,” Thompson said.
He said with mandatory vaccination required for many industries, he expected a similar rule would “come into force” in Victoria.
“From what I understand, there are a few players that are not vaccinated, and I think most of them intend to be vaccinated.”
While no requirement has been received, Cricket Victoria’s (CV) head of association and club support Paul Milo said CV would ensure information about any guidelines for clubs would be released as soon as possible.
“We’ve shared with clubs that it remains a possibility that the State Government may introduce a mandatory requirement.
“But we’re waiting at this stage. We’re hopeful that information comes sooner to allow clubs to prepare,” Milo said.
Thompson said SCA had asked clubs to collect information on player vaccination status and he didn’t expect vaccination compliance to be a problem.
“It will also ultimately depend on when (players) go to check in with their QR codes whether they’re vaccinated or not,” Thompson said.
“Clubs have all got COVID officers … (it’s up to) the clubs to have the correct signage and (ensure) people are checking in and anything related to COVID.”
Recent vaccination guidelines for players in NSW were not a problem for Gol Gol president David Martin, who said the club was able to bring players together to address the subject.
“We were lucky in that when we saw the guidelines, we got the playing group together and talked to everyone at training.
“Everyone had already had one dose,” Martin said.
“(Those guidelines) won’t affect us too much.”
Thompson said the SCA was following predictions on when Victoria would hit 80 per cent double-dose vaccination when determining the start of the 2021 SCA season, and hoped to receive confirmation the competition could go ahead at the start of November.
“The way the vaccination rate is going, we have penciled in November 5 for the start of the women’s comp, November 6 for the men’s comp and juniors, and then the junior girls will play on the 7th,” Thompson said.
He said SCA had decided to mark rounds 1 to 5 of senior men as drawn, and would retain a two-day format for rounds 6 to 8, along with rounds 11 to 14.
