For the second time this season, unfavourable conditions have put a line through the weekend of Wangaratta and District Cricket Association competition.

The WDCA made the call at 11am on Thursday, 29 January on their Facebook page.

“All games scheduled for this coming Friday and Saturday have been cancelled,” the post read.

“Due to the current forecast for Friday and Saturday indicating temperatures of over 40 degrees across our association, being well above our heat policy, the committee has made the call to cancel all Friday and Saturday games to support player and club volunteers’ health and safety.”

Whereas the cancelled round on 10 January was due to the bushfires and the resulting smoke and travel concerns, the culprit this weekend is the heatwave the region has been sweltering through.

According to forecasts and weather data from the Bureau of Meteorology, Saturday is set to push the mercury to 43 degrees Celsius, which would make it the seventh consecutive day of 40-plus degree days.

Under the association's Extreme Heat Guidelines, the relevant subcommittees have the power to cancel both senior and junior matches if the forecast temperature is over a certain threshold.

“If the temperature for Wangaratta is forecast to be over 40 [degrees Celsius] the Extreme Weather Committee shall be responsible for making a decision regarding cancellation of play [of senior matches],” the guidelines state.

“The prevailing weather conditions including wind, humidity and weather warnings shall be taken into consideration by the Extreme Weather Committee using the Cricket Australia Community Cricket Playing in Heat Guidelines.

“If the temperature for Wangaratta is forecast to be over 38 [degrees Celsius] the Junior Sub Committee shall be responsible for making a decision regarding cancellation of play [of junior matches].

“The prevailing weather conditions including wind, humidity and weather warnings shall be taken into consideration by the Junior Sub Committee using the CA Heat Stress Risk Index.”

The dominoes started falling earlier in the week, when clubs like Rovers United Bruck and Benalla Bushrangers announced they had cancelled their Friday afternoon Woolworths Cricket Blast programs due to the heat.

The neighbouring Cricket Albury Wodonga competition pulled the pin early, announcing on Wednesday afternoon all junior matches scheduled for Friday, 30 January and Saturday, 31 January were cancelled.

It is worth noting CAW has more direct wording in their heat policies than the WDCA.

Rovers United Bruck A grade captain Jeremy Wilson said the league made the right call.

“We haven’t had that ever – my whole adult life, 18 years, I don’t think we’ve ever had seven days above 40 degrees,” he said.

“It’s unprecedented, we don’t know the effect it’s going to have on people, so the league has shown they’re mindful of people’s health and wellbeing.

"It’s not just a case of what the weather’s going to be like one day, you’ve got to be mindful of people’s welfare if they’ve been out in the elements all week.

“The week we’ve had, people’s houses would still be hot, so you’d be sapped of energy.

“It’s not so much a black and white thing, people might not realise how dehydrated they are until it’s too late.

“We haven’t trained this week – I think a couple of the boys might’ve gone down early on Tuesday, they were talking about it, but it hasn’t been something we’ve prioritised, just with the heat.

“We’re not expecting blokes to run around in that sort of heat, so from a club point of view, why would be do it on a game day?”

A cool change is expected to come on Sunday, breaking the heatwave with a forecast of 29 degrees Celsius.

With any luck, the 2025/26 WDCA season can continue on Saturday, 7 February.