Cricket NSW has responded to the bushfire threat by abandoning this week's Bradman Cup and Kookaburra Cup tournaments in Albury-Wodonga.
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Cricket NSW had been monitoring the situation for several days prior to Saturday afternoon's announcement that the annual under-16 and under-14 tournaments had been cancelled.
It made the decision based on concerns about the safety of travelling players and families to and from Albury and Wodonga.
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There were also concerns about poor air quality and the potential threat to lives in the border cities.
Due to the Upper Murray bushfire crisis, David Moore, Cricket NSW general manager of cricket performance, said people's safety couldn't be guaranteed.
He said the decision to call off the events wasn't made without due diligence.
The decision was reached, he said, following discussions with Cricket NSW's executive along with the Country Cricket NSW committee of management.
"Cricket NSW takes pride in caring for our people and this is one time where we could not guarantee the safety of players and families," he said.
"This includes the safety of travel throughout the state, the air quality, the ... impending threat as well as not being able to guarantee a timely return home.
"As all would understand, this decision has not been taken lightly.
"The conditions in our state are unprecedented, including the destruction of properly and nature, mass evacuations of towns and loss of loved ones."
The tournaments were set to be begin on Tuesday morning and run through until Friday.
Central North were due to face Central Coast in opening-round Bradman Cup and Kookaburra Cup matches.
There are no plans to reschedule the tournaments.
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
