Cricket
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LAKE Cargelligo District Cricket Association president Colin Fisher has labelled the Murrumbidgee Cricket Council's decision to dismiss its Creet Cup protest an "absolute disgrace".
Fisher said the LCDCA was ready to withdraw from future MCC competitions and find an alternative tournament to the Creet Cup, such is their anger with the MCC's handling of their case.
Lake's protest was submitted the day after their loss to the Griffith under 18s earlier this month and centred around the eligibility of young gun Alex McMaster, who had also represented Griffith's senior Creet Cup side some weeks earlier.
The appeal was swiftly dismissed by MCC president Gordon Browne last week, who said the Creet Cup bylaws had no provisions for the eligibility or otherwise of any player - despite conceding it was "probably wrong" McMaster was allowed to play for two different teams in the same tournament.
Fisher said the LCDCA was still fuming with the decision, which took more than a week to be handed down.
"We're basically looking at finding a different competition to go to now," he told The Area News.
"It's an absolute disgrace.
"I had personally seen Gordon and he said they were doing nothing wrong in letting him play for both sides.
"I spoke to a zone representative from Wagga and everywhere else, except the Creet Cup, you're not allowed to do that.
"Obviously Gordon and the MCC need to look at the big picture instead of what Griffith want to do and look at changing those rules, because they're only doing it to suit themselves."
If the LCDCA was to withdraw from the Creet Cup it would put the competition's future in serious jeopardy.
The cup was saved from the brink of extinction a few years ago and there were just five teams entered this year - two from Griffith, Lake, Leeton and West Wyalong.
Fisher said Lake Cargelligo was tired of being pushed around by big towns like Griffith and said decisions like these were "killing cricket" in country areas.
"The Murrumbidgee council has been crying out for help to get it going, and they go and do this - it's killing cricket," he said.
"If they were serious about keeping cricket alive out this way they would have done something out it.
"Or at the very least, they could have put their hand up and said they're sorry and that they'll change the bylaws so it doesn't happen again.
"Instead, they've put it on us to bring something forward (to the AGM) and get it changed.
"The way they've handled it has not been very good."