By RUSSELL BENNETT
THE nomad Lyndhurst Vikings are finally set to return to their grassroots in Cranbourne.
But there’s a catch – that grass is synthetic, and it doesn’t have any roots.
The Vikings are set to play on Carlisle Park oval’s fully synthetic surface from the start of the 2015-16 season.
The move is set to kick off a ground-breaking new era for local cricket in Victoria’s south east – one that’s set to make life a little tougher for fielders on the boundary.
An air of intrigue surrounded the WGCA’s season launch recently with news of the Vikings’ move, which could pave the way for other clubs to follow a similar path in the future.
Carlisle Park’s $3.6 million, weatherproof ground has been funded by a combination of State Government, Cricket Victoria and City of Casey money and will be just the second of its kind in Victoria.
Set to resemble a kind of mini-Casey Fields, Carlisle Park is set to also boast a football umpires’ training facility, and a base for local netball and tennis sides.
Vikings president Ian Fuller said the club’s move from Barry Simon Reserve in Endeavour Hills was a long time coming.
“We’ve been working towards this for three or four years, and it’s only now the funding has become available,” he said.
Carlisle Park will resemble JJ Holland Park in Kensington in Melbourne’s West. Opened in 2010, it’s Victoria’s only other officially-sanctioned synthetic cricket ground. It was the first of its kind anywhere in Australia and also features a FIFA-standard soccer pitch and an AFL-standard football field with permanent line markings for each.
Fuller said the Vikings’ move could influence other clubs into investigating a similar path.
“There’s fair less maintenance, and obviously no mowing to worry about,” he said.
“I don’t know how it will go with the players possibly getting carpet burns – that’s the unknown – but they all play indoor anyway.”
Fuller said the Vikings were in a ’growing phase’ and the move to Carlisle Park was imperative if they were to field junior sides for the first time in their history.
“We’re about to enter our 20th year and we’ve never had juniors,” he said.
“We need to start bringing some through for our long-term future and build from the grassroots.”
Fuller also added that the club’s announcement of its move to Carlisle Park was “one of the best days in Vikings history”.
The City of Casey is closely monitoring the Vikings’ situation and is believed to be considering the construction of other synthetic fields elsewhere in the shire.
