Country Cricket NSW Colts Championships: Smoke forces seven-hour delay

Wednesday's opening round of Twenty20 matches, which were penned in for a 9am start, were delayed when the air quality index continued to sit above the 'hazardous' reading of 200.

Those opening matches were forced to be cancelled but players had hope the second round of matches would still get underway.

Hourly tests were taken throughout the day to determine whether play could go ahead and officials made the decision at 3.45pm that the second round of T20 games could go ahead - nearly three hours after the originally planned start time.

The thickness of the smoke visibly lessened around lunch time, where readings dropped below 220 for the first time, and eventually teams got back onto the field.

Just one round of matches remain on Thursday.

With weather permitting, Western will end their tournament against Central Northern at Scots All Saints College's Scots campus on Thursday.