Sport
20 December, 2024
New nets a win all-round
IN a boost for cricket and the wider West Warrnambool community, Davidson Oval is now home to new state-of-the-art cricket nets.
With retractable centre nets, it can be used either as traditional three-lane cricket nets, or be opened up for various drills as well as a warm up area.
The gravel vehicle/pedestrian track will be reinstated to help connect the new nets with the rest of the facilities within the reserve and the old nets will be removed prior to Christmas.
“It’s really exciting to see these new nets completed with cricket season in full swing, so they’ll be getting a lot of use straight away,” Warrnambool mayor Cr Ben Blain said.
“The newer style of cricket nets with the retractable lanes are really versatile and provide a lot of flexibility, and the more uses that new infrastructure can have, the better the outcome for the community.
“To have the juniors and the seniors able to use the same facility at the same time, it really speaks to the important role sporting clubs play in fostering vibrant communities where all sorts of different people can spend time together, and the positive impact that this can have.
“Thank you to Cricket Victoria for supporting this project which will provide a big boost for West Warrnambool.”
West Warrnambool Cricket Club president Matt Holcombe said the new nets would provide a big boost for the club.
“To have the new facility and to be able to join the club in together, to have the younger kids with the older kids, it’s massive,” he said.
“It’s really good to be able to open them up and do some enclosed fielding.
“It’s for the benefit of cricket, and it’s also for the benefit of the West Warrnambool community as well.
“It’s been a really good process to be involved in. Council has been very open, very honest the whole way through and communication was great.”
This season the cricket club has about 40 seniors and 50 juniors plus a Woollies Blast program for the little ones.
Andrew Sloane, senior netball coach with Old Collegians Football Netball Club, said he was looking forward to his netball sides using the nets for warm-ups throughout the season.
“Before these nets went up our netballers had to warm-up before their games on a Saturday in the car park which wasn’t ideal,” Sloan said.
“With so much traffic coming and going it really was a safety issue so we’re thrilled we can now have access to this area on game days.
“Our club proudly contributed $5,000 towards the project”
The project was managed by council working closely with West Warrnambool Cricket Club and Cricket Victoria through the Australian Cricket Infrastructure Fund.
