Rain dampened the spirits of the Peel Cricket Association’s A-grade competition over the weekend, with a washout forcing the league’s opening round to be called off and postponed to a later date.
Intermittent showers put all five of the top level games on hold, with the PCA making the decision to postpone the round until Saturday, December 16.
“We will move the round to a later date so it doesn’t need to be called as a draw,” PCA operations manager Rob Wallace said.
“Unfortunately it does put a bit of a downer on what looked like a pretty exciting round one, but there’s nothing anyone can do about the weather.
“I know all the A-grade players will be itching to get out there and luckily we have a sunny forecast for the coming Saturday.”
The PCA’s Peel Premier League T20 competition was originally scheduled to be played on the December 16 date, but has since been moved to accommodate the postponed round.
The Association will decide on a new date for the Peel Premier League tournament in the coming weeks.
Fortunately, the race for the McIntosh Cup was still able to get under way, with all B-grade teams hitting the pitch for round one.
Warnbro hit the ground running in the seconds with an impressive win over Halls Head landing them with the early hold on top spot.
The Swans rode Mathew Sulzberger’s knock of 61 on their way to a score of 209 after they were all out on 43.3 overs, enough to surpass Halls Head’s total of 194 from their 50 overs.
Lewis Starbuck shone with a five-wicket haul for Halls Head, but it wasn’t enough to secure his side a win.
But the most outstanding individual performance of the opening B-grade round went to Leigh McIntosh, who blasted an unbeaten 92 runs as his White Knights Baldivis claimed a win in over Mandurah.
Secret Harbour bowler Matthew Cousins wasn’t far behind, as his stunning bowling figures led the Dockers to a 110-run win over Pinjarra.
Cousins finished with four wickets at the cost of just 13 runs from his eight overs – a spell that included four maidens.
The A-grade will fire up its opening round this coming Saturday.