Bundoora United is ready to put a tough season behind it and focus on the future in the Diamond Valley Cricket Association.
The Bulldogs’ run in the Barclay Shield was thwarted with the club penalised for a rule breach by the association before round 10.
The penalty changed the results of five matches, relegating the Bulldogs to the bottom of the ladder and causing them to drop a division.
Bulldogs president Grant Flack said it had been a tough time at the club, which still maintains it did nothing wrong.
“People were angry initially,” he said last week. “But it’s brought us closer and we’ve re-signed all our senior players for next season.
“We’re now looking at continuing the focus on development of our juniors … and we’re likely to have under-16s for the first time in a few years next season,” Flack said.
In a letter to all clubs, he outlined the background to the breach.
“The DVCA executive has charged and found us guilty of playing an unregistered player in five games during the season,” Flack wrote.
“This player … has played for our club for 19 years, both as a junior, and through our senior ranks, captaining and coaching the club.
“[He] informed us prior to pre-season that he would be relocating to Sydney for work. We asked him to commit to playing five games with us … which he agreed to do.”
After round seven, the association contacted the club asking whether the player had also been playing cricket in Sydney.
“We advised that, as far as we knew, he was not playing in an organised competition but had played a couple of social games with mates,” the letter continued.
“At no stage did we receive an alert from MyCricket of a clearance or transfer request.
“Prior to round 10, we were asked again by the executive to confirm if [the player] was in fact playing at a particular club in Sydney. He confirmed that the specified club was where he had played, but again reiterated that it was a social competition.”
The player, though had been registered by the club in Sydney, which is what caused the trouble.
The association then handed down a decision to wipe out all points from the Bulldogs’ matches in which the player had played, and they would instead receive minus two points for each of those games.
“Without consultation with us, the other club or [the player], they handed down their findings and penalty.
“If we had known the club in Sydney had or was going to register … we would have ourselves sought guidance from the DVCA and asked for any required permit,” Flack told Star Weekly.
“The DVCA themselves acknowledge he is our player and doesn’t need a clearance to play for us again next year.”
Flack said he and the club were disappointed with a decision that they cannot appeal.
“We wanted to state our case and they said we couldn’t appeal. The constitution said we could and we sent an email with a couple of points. That was dismissed and that was it.”
The DVCA executive said the penalties were set down in accordance with the rules set at the start of the season.
“As such, the penalties imposed were seen to be harsh but were in accordance with the rules,” the executive said.
“In relation to an appeal, the DVCA, at its discretion, heard the case put forward by Bundoora United but decided that their decision was final and no further action would be taken on the matter.”
