No big surprise that last weekend’s cricket was washed out but it is a disappointing end to another fantastic year for Herbert River Cricket. Although there was sunshine all weekend the amount of rain and the length of the grass meant that no lawn mowers have been able to get on the grounds.
Above: Matthew Russell on Barbeque duties at 2009 Grand Final at Forrest Beach.
Having not played a game of cricket since the 8th of December and the chance of returning again to Butler Park this season non-existent the juniors are already resigned to the fact that there will be no final matches for their competition again this year. When contacted Junior Director Steven Carrara stated “The last couple of years we have been lucky with the rain, this year we will be lucky to play a game.”
Senior cricket although able to move their games to Forrest Beach State School which is a quicker drying field, it still has to stop raining and dry out enough to mow the grass. This isn’t an option with the juniors as they need all four fields.
Having missed 3 rounds of local cricket, the Christmas Twenty20 carnival as well as half our games at the Goldfield Ashes it still isn’t our worst wet year. The 2009-2010 seasons we didn’t play all year at Butler Park. Instead all the games were played at Forrest Beach and Lucinda’s Public Sport Reserve for that cricket season.
Before senior cricket started using Forrest Beach’s cricket pitch it happened quite regularly that if you were ahead at Christmas you often won the competition without another ball being bowled. This is just the result of where we live and conditions for this time of year.
Spare a thought to our tireless and unpaid groundkeepers that have to keep our fields in the fantastic condition they need to be. Anyone driving past the sport fields on Fairford Road knows what I mean. It’s a fine line. Mow too early and you get huge ruts and tear up the fields, too late and you cannot play. At last count we have over half a dozen volunteers that help keep the fields in pristine condition and it’s true that everyone’s a critic. Above: Our Back Cricket Fields at Butler Park
It rarely comes up but the bypass road that everyone is against goes straight through the middle of our cricket grounds at Butler Park. I’m sure everyone’s seen photographs of our clubhouse half under water during the floods. We were originally informed about this decision nearly 10 years ago but at the time there was no funding. Every time it floods particularly in an election year the bypass road again rears its ugly head and although the Government has promised replacement in kind for our fields there is nothing in writing only their word.
It’s not all doom and gloom with the 2nd senior final scheduled for Forrest Beach on Saturday the 16th at 12:30 with Northern Districts playing Uniteds. The winner not only going through to the Grand Final against Lower Herbert but also holding aloft the Steven Chiesa Shield winning three of their five clashes for the season.
After the Grand Final and Presentation Night the next big event is our Hinchinbrook Hotel Over40T20 Challenge on the weekend 3rd – 5th of May 2019. In its sixth year Co-Presidents Kyle Chiesa & Jessy Mae Smith are again in charge after a successful debut carnival last year. The committee is always looking for volunteers, so if you can help get in touch.
Below: Butler Park under water again
