Regular season to be cut short and finals brought forward a week in ADCA’s COVID mitigation plan

Albany and Districts Cricket Association is set to reduce the regular season and fast-track the finals series amid growing concerns over the potential rise in COVID-19 case numbers in regional WA. Club presidents met on Monday night and agreed to reduce the normal season by one week to avoid any possible COVID-19 related interruptions to the ADCA finals. ADCA have three rounds left to complete in the scheduled 15-round regular season but round 15, which was set down for March 12, is set to be scrapped and will instead be the start of the two-week finals system. The decision is likely to be ratified at an ADCA executive meeting on Monday night and would mean semifinals and preliminary finals will be played on March 12 and 13 and the grand finals on March 19. The grand finals were originally set down for Saturday, March 26. The three teams playing finals in the A-grade competition have already been decided, however, there is still a chance for change in the top four in both B-grade and C-grade which is the reason clubs want to play the next two rounds of qualifying games. ADCA has a general bye on the March long weekend, which is now set to act as a break between the regular season and finals series. Last season’s finals series was not impacted by COVID, however, in the 2019-20 season, grand finals were cancelled due to the virus. Railways were the first team through to the A-grade decider and ultimately were awarded the premiership under ADCA bylaws stating the first team to progress to the grand final shall be declared winners. The likely decision by ADCA to shorten the 2021-22 season will see them join a growing list of associations and regions to end their seasons early. The Bunbury and Districts Cricket Association and Northam Cricket Association have reduced their seasons and the WA Premier Cricket competition has also been modified in an attempt to get their seasons completed without any implications. Busselton-Margaret River Cricket Association this week also shortened its season. It is not known if the ADCA ruling will affect the junior competitions or what it means for finals qualifications for players. More details are expected to be announced after Monday night’s executive meeting.