CRICKET
CRICKET LATROBE VALLEY
By LIAM DURKIN
TWO players at the centre of the dust up between Gormandale and Rovers cricket club have been slapped with lengthy bans.
Gormandale fast bowler Nathan Heard will not play for the next 10 years, while his clubmate Tyler Reynolds won’t play for the next four.
The bombshell verdicts were handed down last Thursday night by the Cricket Latrobe Valley tribunal.
Heard was effectively given a lifetime ban for headbutting Rovers batsman Nathan Findlay, which sparked a near all in brawl at Duncan Cameron Reserve on Saturday, February 22.
Reynolds will sit out until 2029 for his part in the controversy, after tackling Findlay to the ground and putting him in a headlock as tensions boiled over during the Round 13 A Grade clash.
Given the bans, there is a good chance neither player will ever step foot onto a cricket field again – or be welcome at any club for that matter.
The league introduced an independent tribunal this season to eliminate any potential conflicts of interest.
According to one CLV official, the tribunal wouldn’t even know who the league’s leading players are.
Gormandale Cricket Club sanctioned both players internally on the Tuesday following the incident, and released a statement after the tribunal.
“Both (players) attended the hearing and have expressed remorse for their actions to both the club and league,” part of the statement read.
“Gormandale Cricket Club consider the matter closed and we look forward to the weekends play.”
Rovers Cricket Club also released a statement, confirming that “no player, or the club itself, was sanctioned at the hearing”.
“This has been a trying time for all concerned,” the statement read.
“The club accepts the penalties handed down by Cricket Latrobe Valley to the guilty parties and now consider this matter closed.
“Once again, the Traralgon Rovers Cricket Club does not condone violence in any form in our sport.”
While some viewed the tribunal’s penalties as draconian, others in local cricket circles were of the belief it was high time poor on-field behaviour was finally stamped out.
Cricket in the Latrobe Valley region has been unfortunately littered with players stepping well beyond the boundaries of decency and fair play, and for no punishment in the past.
Incidents of verbal tirades toward umpires, personal send offs and even change room damage by visiting teams have blighted many Saturday afternoons.
There could yet be something salvaged from the latest wreck, with Gormandale and Rovers considering playing a ‘Spirit of Cricket’ match in a show of goodwill.
Despite publicly stating the matter closed, the Express understands Gormandale will be appealing the bans.
The ugly incident came at the worst possible time right on the eve of finals, and with an added casualty in league president Brad Howlett, who announced his resignation effective immediately last Friday. Granted it was peculiar his decision came a day after the tribunal, Howlett informed the CLV board of his decision some weeks ago.
Having been at the forefront of creating what has become the second-biggest country cricket league in the state, not to mention its subsequent management, one can appreciate the toll it must have taken.
For the players now confined to simply watching cricket, it is hard to totally ignore their new reality.
One of them is serving one year for just about every second the fight lasted.
