A proposal to ban the use of cricket balls in council-owned nets has been slammed as ‘ridiculous’ and a publicity stunt.

A review is underway in South Australia after City of Port Adelaide Enfield Councillor Mark Basham lodged a proposal that may see the use of hard balls in nets banned unless a prior booking was made.

The New Daily understands a number of complaints have been made by City of Port Adelaide Enfield residents who are concerned at the damage a cricket ball can cause.

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And while the proposal has not even reached the review stage, it attracted widespread derision after the news broke on Wednesday.

“This is ridiculous,” former Australia fast bowler Rodney Hogg told The New Daily.

This could soon be a scene of the past. Photo: Getty

“I’m so concerned about Australia being too politically correct. People can’t even take photos of their kids singing at school anymore.

“This is just some ‘nuff-nuff’ on a council who wants to get publicity. Nothing more.

“I’m not seeing this as a proposal that is going to get approved.”

President and chairman of the Port Adelaide Cricket Club, Maurie Vast, was equally perplexed by the plan.

“A cricket net seems to be the ideal place to play with a cricket ball,” he told The New Daily.

“People need to take responsibility for their own actions.

“I’m surprised (by this). A cricket net is essentially a wired cage – and that is a controlled environment.”

‘It’s a sign of where life is going’

Vast is worried about the impact any potential ban would have on youngsters who were thinking about taking up the game of cricket.

“This could impact little ‘Johnny’ or ‘Freda’ who want to go down to the nets,” he added.

“As a kid, I used to use hard cricket balls … I suppose it’s a sign of where life is going.

“But people go down to the oval to kick the football or play soccer and there’s nothing more controlled than playing cricket in a net.

“It’s there to protect people. The nets may have to be modified but I hope sanity prevails and a logical decision is made on this.”

Mayor of Port Adelaide Enfield, Gary Johanson, said the council was full of cricket fans.

But he added that hard cricket balls were a danger to many kids playing other sports on their ovals.

Thinking of going to the nets with that? Photo: Getty

“We are the second-largest council in the state,” he told The New Daily.

“We don’t want to stop kids playing cricket but what we are saying is our reserves are at breaking point and we are trying to involve everyone.

“Our sporting facilities are largely built to cater for cricket and football but the demand for soccer facilities is overwhelming.

“We have lots of kids training to play soccer or futsal on our facilities and there’s a risk of them getting hit by cricket balls coming out of cricket nets.

“We want to minimise risk and we live in a very litigious society now.”

Negative publicity a constant

Mr Johanson acknowledged the proposal had attracted significant negative publicity but said it was a debate that must be had.

“It’s not easy and this has caused a lot of negative publicity,” he added.

“But it’s a debate that is going to have to happen. We have to address it.

“It’s alright to say ‘it’s a nanny state’, but if a little child dies and we have not tried to address the issue, some serious questions would be asked.”

South Australian MP Stephen Mullighan dubbed the plan as ‘rubbish’.

Interest in the story was so high that Sportsbet released a market on whether the Port Adelaide Enfield Council would ban cricket balls.

A ban was listed at $2.00, with no ban at $1.75, at the time of writing.