TWO captains acutely aware of where their teams sit in the scheme of things will have some big decisions in front of them this afternoon when the Bathurst District Cricket Association first grade round resumes for day two.
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Bathurst City will start the second day of their match against ORC at the Sportsground in a commanding position at 7-366 with the option of batting for as long as they want.
But after missing out on some points under the new scoring system in their previous match against Blayney, Redbacks lost ground on competition leaders City Colts and as a consequence they may approach things differently.
Redbacks skipper Ben Orme’s situation now means that he can bat on for an hour or so and all but ensure ORC can’t win the game – assuming not-out batsmen Adam Orme and John Rudge continue to score.
On the flipside, taking any more time out of the game limits the number of overs his attack will have to knock over an ORC team fielding its strongest batting line-up of the season.
It could see them end up dominating the game, but taking no points from it if the Tigers were to survive.
“It is an interesting position to be in, but as I said last week I’ll decide when we get there on the day and have a look at the conditions,” Orme said.
“I’m confident that with most of a day of bowling we can bowl them out, but they are a stronger batting side than bowling side so we have to take that into consideration as well.
“Also if they roll up and dismiss us straight away then it takes that out of the equation altogether.
“We had a great day last week, we need to capitalise on our position now and that means bowling patiently and with discipline.
“They have batsmen that can hurt you if you’re not putting it in the right areas. I thought last week they lost their lines and lengths a bit and we punished them, we don’t want to make the same mistake.”
Orme’s counterpart Brendan Inwood has similar choices to make.
If Redbacks were to declare before play, it would leave his side needing to score, provided there is no rain, at a little under five an over for victory.
With Wayne Sellers, Trent Fitzpatrick, Inwood himself, Andrew Best and Dave Sellers filling out the top-five, it is tough but doable.
Mick Fardon boasts a first grade 90 and a handful of other half-centuries and is listed to bat at nine with his hard-hitting brother Trent at 10, showcasing strong depth with the willow.
“That’s all very good on paper, but as we showed against Oxford Centennials a few weeks ago, albeit with a different looking team, it doesn’t matter how strong your batting is if you play dumb shots,” Inwood said.
“We think we’ve got a chance as it stands at the moment. All of our top five have made runs this season, Clint Bryant is coming off 90, we have the players to do it without doubt.
“But if City bat on and take time out of the game and set us something clear of 400 then we’d be stupid not to re-assess and try and make sure we don’t lose.
“It could come down to a case of us competing with them for a finals spot which sounds strange considering our one-dayer win over them was the only time they’ve lost all season.
“There’s a lot of things to consider, but they’re in the driver’s seat and we have to deal with things as best we can depending on what happens on the day.”
