Cape Town – Newlands will continue to host domestic franchise and international matches, despite the Western Province Cricket Association (WPCA) taking the unprecedented step on Wednesday of terminating all club and school cricket with immediate effect due to the water restrictions in place in the city.
Nabeal Dien, chief executive of the WPCA, said the board was unanimous in deciding to take this major step.
“We are only going to focus on provincial fixtures for women and men, while also hosting international events against India and Australia with the permission and assistance of the City of Cape Town,” Dien said.
Read: #WaterCrisis: Watch how family of 3 showers with 5 litres of water #WaterCrisis: Newlands Spring to move due to congestion, bad behaviour “We are constantly liaising with the city in regard to using less water at the ground.
All our public toilets around the ground are closed on non-match days.
WPCA had made the decision to halve the senior club’s season fixtures due to the City of Cape Town’s concerns of there being insufficient water to service municipal facilities in July last year.
It then further cut fixtures in October last year after minimal rain during the winter months.
“We also understand the impact it will have on all our clubs and juniors, especially in terms of dwindling interest due to the lack of game time.
It could have a serious impact.
"We have already seen the quality of our cricket drop over the course of the season due to the poor state of our fields and pitches,” Du Preez said.