Sport

Heat rules bowls over cricket round

By Gus Underwood

Jan 17, 2023

Back in blue: Cooma's Michael Hill returned to the GMC’s A-grade competition with a hard hitting innings for Cooma in the Haeusler’s Twenty20 match against Rochester last Thursday. Photo by Bruce Povey

Cricket’s heat rule bowled over games in both the Goulburn Murray and Cricket Shepparton associations last weekend.

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While it didn’t reach the predicted maximum temperature, both associations used a bi-law which can be invoked if the scheduled games are in the midst of a hot spell which was the case for both competitions.

Only three Haeusler’s GMC Twenty20 men’s competition matches were played last week, on Thursday afternoon, as all grades spent the weekend on the sidelines.

Cooma, Leitchville Gunbower and Bamawm Lockington United progressed to round two of the competition with wins against Rochester, Moama and Echuca South respectively.

The three teams that had an opening round bye will contest round two, with the most interesting match for Kyabram cricket fans being the Cooma and Fire Brigade contest.

Cooma unveiled three recruits last week that had an immediate impact on the competition, Michael Hill top scoring with a hard hitting 49 and Bendigo association all-rounder Campbell Love taking four wickets with the new ball.

Stephen Barrett, a Bendigo United cricketer who kept wickets, was a third inclusion into the team that won by two wickets with four balls to spare.

Echuca will tackle Leitchville Gunbower at Victoria Park on Thursday at 5.30pm, Nondies Cohuna is pitted against Bamawm Lockington United and the Cooma-Fire Brigade match is at Northern Oval at 5.30pm on Friday.

Weather is not expected to have an impact on the matches as a comparatively “cool change’’ is expected for the next week.

GM’s threshold for games to be cancelled is 40℃, while Cricket Shepparton’s is 42℃.

But Cricket Shepparton president Brendan Reilly said common sense was needed in some circumstances and that’s why his association decided to pull the pin last Saturday.

GM president Jason Turner said the same procedure was followed by his association.

— This Saturday in the GM competition Kyabram Fire Brigade gets the chance to boost its finals chances when it hosts the young Cooma side, Moama takes on Cohuna Nondies, Leitchville Gunbower tackles Echuca South and Rochester hosts BLU.

In Cricket Shepparton, Kyabram can tighten its grip on a top six spot when it travels to Tatura, which is coming off a win.