Oaklands Wolves and Leopards season officially over as Basketball England cancel all activity

No decision has yet been made of the final standing of Oaklands Wolves in the WBBL. Picture: LELLO AMETRANO (Image: INAFRAME.NET)

This action was taken in consultation with the BBL and WBBL among others and comes in light of increased measures to fight the spread of the coronavirus issued by government on Monday.

Stewart Kellett, the chief executive officer at Basketball England, said: “We are here to serve and protect our members. We know from feedback over the weekend that the basketball community want the governing body to protect people.

“We also know that people want to play and stay involved and are disappointed with the cancellation but we have to do what is right for the greater good of the country.

“We are very grateful for support on this matter and we will provide advice and support to clubs and our members that need it.”

What that means in terms of the final NBL tables for the Leopards “is being considered and will be communicated on or before March 27”.

Thomas Baker’s Leopards will hope that their current fourth-from-bottom placing in the Division One table will assure them another season of top-flight basketball.

One disappointment for the Big Cats though is the postponement of the Keith Tewkesbury Memorial Game which was due to be held at the Brentwood Centre on March 29.

General manager Dave Ryan said: “The biggest disappointment is that we can’t play Keith’s game.

“I’m sure we can find a solution with the Brentwood Centre to get the game played and remember our friend in the way we want to.

“We’d just started to play some great basketball too but it is all over for us.”

Basketball England added that a ruling on the conclusion of the WBBL season would be made in due course.

Oaklands Wolves currently sit 10th in the league having played 16 of their scheduled 22 games.