Altona-based Melbourne Aces have expressed disappointment at the Australian Baseball League pulling the plug on the 2021/22 season due to challenges posed by the COVID-19 global pandemic.
Baseball Australia chief executive Glenn Williams said although incredibly difficult to make, the decision was made with the league’s long-term success and sustainability in mind.
“There is still too much uncertainty around Australia’s ongoing COVID restrictions for us to be able to operate a successful ABL season,” he said.
“We know how much the ABL means to our fans, players, coaches, officials and the wider baseball community and we exhausted all options to try and find a way to conduct a sustainable season, but we couldn’t find a way through.”
Melbourne Aces owner Brett Ralph said the Aces fought until the eleventh hour to play on, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.
“It is extremely disappointing that the 2021/22 season will not proceed – the ABL worked tirelessly and produced two schedules that were in our opinion workable,” he said.
Both of these schedules required the participation of the Brisbane Bandits in order that Perth Heat and Adelaide Giants had opponents to play whilst waiting for further easing of border restrictions.
“With Brisbane’s decision to withdraw from the competition following the failure to achieve the rule changes they demanded, it became apparent that a workable schedule was not possible,” Ralph said.
“The ABL is to be commended for resisting Brisbane’s attempts to blackmail the league into making rule changes that would have delivered a significant competitive advantage to the Bandits but were not in the best interests of all teams.”
Ralph said the Aces remain extremely optimistic about what lies ahead, both for the league and the organisation’s future.
“We have some huge surprises in store for our players and fans for the 2022/2023 season,” he said.
Williams said the ABL will also turn its attention to the longer term and making the 2022/23 season its best ever.
“Our goal over the coming years is to build a thriving and sustainable ABL to ensure it regains a strong position in the Australian sporting landscape and remains as one of the best baseball leagues in the world,” he said.
