West Tamworth’s decision to abandon their major semi-final clash against Old Boys on day one of the scheduled two-dayer is a “disappointing” look for Tamworth cricket, Central Northern Cricket Zone chairman Terry Psarakis has said.
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But West Tamworth president Kristian Grattan has supported the club’s first-grade captain David Mudaliar, saying the veteran player made the right call to end the contest after about only three hours of play.
Reigning four-time premiers Old Boys skittled Wests for 37 after Wests won the toss and batted in ideal batting conditions on Saturday.
In reply, Old Boys reached 1-135 off 16 overs thanks to a 35-ball century by opener Simon Norvill, perhaps the fastest ever ton in Tamworth first grade.
It was then – at about 4pm – that Mudaliar approached Old Boys captain Ben Middlebrook to concede the match.
Middlebrook said the move surprised him.
Post-match, Mudaliar said he wanted to spare his shell-shocked teammates further damage.
However, Tamworth-based Psarakis believes that Mudaliar made the wrong decision, although he did not breach any rule.
Psarakis said it “was a bit disappointing from a cricketing point of view that the game was over that quickly”.
He said: “It’s unbelievable how the game finished that early in a major semi-final.
“I’ve never heard of it before.
“That’s definitely a first for me for a finals series game … I can’t believe they’ve just pulled up stumps.
“I’m not saying they [Wests] were going to win the game, but usually you fight a bit longer than that … To say it’s over by that time.
“They still had another two hours, at least, to play [on Saturday] and a full day on Sunday. It’s amazing.”
Psarakis played first-grade cricket in Tamworth for almost 40 years. He can’t recall a lower score in a top-grade final.
“That’s really bad,” he said.
In explaining the rationale behind the decision, Mudaliar had said: “To be honest, as much as I like to stay in games as much as possible, there’s a point at which the game is done and you need to be conscious about what's coming up next week.”
Grattan said the game “was probably gone” and Mudaliar was worried about injuries to players, given the side played South Tamworth in the preliminary final at No.1 Oval this weekend.
“I fully support Dave, our captain,” he said.
Grattan added that he was sure Mudaliar consulted with senior teammates before making the decision to end the match.
