AS far as first impressions go, they don’t come much better than the one made by ORC batsman Andrew Best in his brief time with the club.

The Mudgee native, who is studying at CSU in Bathurst, has been a revelation for the Tigers since arriving in the Bathurst District Cricket Association first grade competition.

Already he has racked up 198 runs at an average of 99 in his three matches, following a promising 36 in round one against Rugby with a match-winning 102 not out against St Pat’s Old Boys and an important 60 against Oxford Centennials.

Today he gets his toughest test to date when ORC face Bathurst City at the Sportsground.

“I know of a few of their guys, I have played a bit of cricket with and against Joey Coughlan and I think I’ve played against guys like Ben Orme and some of the others when I’ve played for Mudgee,” Best said.

“So far I haven’t really faced anyone that I’m familiar with. It has been a bit of a learning experience, but I’ve felt pretty good and handled it okay.

“I’m happy to get a couple of starts under the belt and cement by spot in the side as quickly as I can.”

Best has been living in Bathurst for three years as he studies primary teaching at CSU.

However, up until now he has been happy enough to travel back to Mudgee each week to play on home soil.

The desire to challenge himself a little bit more led him to change things up in 2014-15.

“Just the idea of playing on better pitches and in a stronger competition was something that I’d thought about for a while,” he said.

“I ended up joining ORC through Wayne Sellers, who I know pretty well, and I also knew Brendan Inwood, so it was an easy choice to go there.

“The thing that has been noticeable so far is the extra depth across the teams. Most of the sides in Mudgee had some good bowlers that were just as strong as the ones here but if you could see them off, it started to get a bit more friendly.

“That’s not the case in Bathurst.

“I think we can be pretty happy with how we’ve looked so far, really we probably should have won that first game against Rugby Union and we’ve been great with the bat since and scored quickly.”

The Tigers will face their biggest test of the competition so far against a team who epitomises what Best is talking about.

Any one of six or seven Redbacks are capable of bowling their full eight overs and making a significant impact on the game.

That depth is expected to stretch the likes of Best and Sellers, the pair who were mainly responsible for the win over Ox-Cents.

ORC will welcome back Trent Fitzpatrick, who will come in for Sam Debenham, adding to their growing batting depth in addition to offering a straight swap with the ball.

A win for ORC will take them to a handy 3-1 record, a far cry from recent seasons including 2013-14 where they spluttered to a 1-5 record after their first six matches before recovering.