REMOVING complacency will be the main aim for the Bathurst colts team in their Mitchell Cricket Council fixture against Mudgee this Sunday at the Sportsground.
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Bathurst will look to bounce back from a disappointing loss to Orange last week in which they allowed their opponents to hunt down 133 runs on their ninth wicket partnership.
There’s no second chances now for Bathurst with another loss bringing an end to their competition hopes.
They’ll have to try and find the win against a Mudgee team who belted Blue Mountains last round by 255 runs.
Making matters more difficult will be the absence of captain and last week’s centurion Callum Hotham who is away on holidays, though the team is expected to have returning Western Zone representative Ryan Peacock come into the side.
Team manager Jake Bognuda said while it was a shock to the system letting the Orange match get away, it’s something his team will take a lot away from.
“We’ve got a heap of talented players in there and they put a good score on the board first up. I think they thought they had it, especially when we had them down at six for 60-odd. Everyone thought it was going to be an early finish,” he said.
“But as soon as they got another 30 runs or so put on them, that was when their heads started to go down and they lost their confidence.”
Communication is the next thing on the ‘to-do’ list for Bathurst considering they lost half their wickets on Sunday to run outs. Those run outs accounted for five of the six final wickets.
Bognuda said getting his players to maintain confidence in their own ability will go a long way to turning the tables around for the Mudgee match.
“We’ve just got to get back to training and make sure that we focus on keeping our heads up when something goes wrong. If we have a boundary hit against us we need to remember that it’s something that happens to the best of us,” he said.
“Because of the change in colts from under 21s to 19s I’m not too sure of the talent that’s coming through this year [at Mudgee]. We just have to take each game as it comes.”
The match will begin at 10am.
WE CAN DO IT: Mark Day and the Bathurst under 19s will be looking for improvement in Sunday’s match against Mudgee in the Mitchell Cricket Council Colts competition. Photo: PHILL MURRAY 103115pday1
