THE Sunraysia Cricket Association (SCA) will draw inspiration from its Red Cliffs counterpart with a three-game playoff series to decide this year’s premiers.
Adopting the format from the Red Cliffs Cricket Association, SCA president Andrew Farlie said the March 21, March 27 and if required March 28 series would be part of a revamped season under COVID-19 protocols.
“With the way things have changed this year with the inability to play two-day cricket we were looking at different things for one-day cricket,” he said.
“It’s been a successful format in Red Cliffs cricket, so we thought we’d give it a try for this season.
“It gives us a chance to do something a little bit different in what’s going to be a different year.”
The playoff series will start on a Sunday, the day after the semi-finals, as the SCA looks to finish its season before the end of March under an agreement with local football.
“For that to happen we were probably a week short in what we could do given we wanted to play three full rounds of cricket, two rounds of the one-day home-and-away format and a full round of Twenty20,” Farlie (pictured) said.
“You know if you win on the Saturday (in the semi-final) you are going to go through and play on the Sunday and the following week you’ve got that extra day.”
A three-game series is expected to nullify the upset factor sometimes seen in shorter formats when a good short spell of cricket could have one side out of the game.
“The difference will probably be there will be a neutral ground, so the ground factor will be out of play,” Farlie said.
“It will be pretty much the better team, hopefully, coming out on top.”
The SCA senior season will begin on October 30, with juniors hitting off this weekend.
SCA-appointed umpires will officiate games as they trial the wearing of masks during games. The Red Cliffs Cricket Association also starts this weekend.
