Home   Sport   Article

Friendlies are big relief for Ross County captain


By Andrew Henderson

Easier access to your trusted, local news. Subscribe to a digital package and support local news publishing.



Click here to sign up to our free newsletters!

Ross County Cricket Club will play their first game of 2020 next weekend against Highland at Castle Leod.

Ross County cricketer Graeme Carney.
Ross County cricketer Graeme Carney.

No play has been possible so far this year because of the pandemic, with lockdown coming into effect just before outdoor training sessions were set to resume in March.

This week though, clubs were given the green light to play friendly matches against other, local teams, having previously been allowed to stage intra-club fixtures over the last month.

Regular league and cup competitions have all been cancelled, leaving friendlies as the only remaining option.

Following on from Highland’s trip to Strathpeffer, County will also play home and away games against Nairn and Northern Counties in the coming weeks.

“It has all been quite short-notice,” County club captain Graeme Carney admitted.

“They lifted the restrictions and we’re allowed to play, so now all the clubs are scrambling to try and get friendlies organised.

“We’re just trying to get our schedule as busy as possible, because it has been fun being able to train but you really want to be in the middle playing some competitive cricket.

“There are certain measures in place – you have to have a nominated Covid monitor from the home side to make sure things are played under the current regulations.

“Anything that gets us playing is a good thing. It’s unfortunate that it’s so late in the day, but we’ll take anything at this point.”

After major question marks over sport across the board earlier in the summer, there was a tangible relief when this week’s announcement came from Cricket Scotland.

“The first thought was let’s get stuff in the diary as quickly as possible!” Carney added.

“We’re also working on some second 11 fixtures at the minute, including a game against Fort Augustus.

“It’s just trying to get as much in now in such a short space of time that we have left.”

For more sports news click here.


Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.



This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More