BOTH St Pat’s Old Boys and Bathurst City will be out for a strong start with bat and ball respectively when their Bathurst District Cricket Association first grade match at the Sportsground resumes on Saturday.
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Pat’s will be trying to chase down 274 for victory while Redbacks will be hunting for early wickets while the ball is still swinging.
Redbacks had Ben Orme (94) and Mike Waldren (83) to thank for putting on the majority of their runs last Saturday, which took them to a very competitive total. The pair produced a partnership of 150 for the fifth wicket.
Waldren’s measured performance with the bat played a big part in seeing him named to the Bathurst district side for Sunday’s Presidents Cup clash against Orange.
Saints’ Matt Fearnley said his team know the winning equation and just have to remain diligent with the bat.
“The total looks big and is a decent score for the wicket. I’d say it’s about par. On the wicket once you lose the shine of the ball it gets very hard to bowl on,” he said.
“It comes out at around four an over, which is not high if we bat out our overs, so I think we bowled well to keep it to that total.
“Now we have to focus on batting out the 76 remaining overs. We always talk about batting out our overs and that plan doesn’t change now.”
Fearnley was busy with the ball last week as he bowled 18 overs to finish with figures of 3-55. Ben Parsons also claimed three wickets.
Pat’s knocked over ORC and City Colts to end their one-day season on a high note towards the end of last year.
A win over Redbacks would arguably be the biggest scalp if they were to make it three in a row.
That’s an achievement Fearnley thinks his team are capable of pulling off.
“Those wins give us belief and whenever you come up against a side like City you want to go into the match in a positive frame of mind,” he said.
“The great thing for us at the moment is that in the past there was normally the same guys doing the work but now many people are doing that.
“Jeremy Russell got 100 then with boys like Ben Parsons and Ben Mitchell we’ve got two of the best bowlers in the competition.”
Saints success would require the side to overcome recent trends.
Redbacks have often saved their best cricket for the two-day BDCA season.
Last season they won eight of their nine matches in the format.
They also boast an imposing record of 12 straight victories over the Saints, a streak that goes back to when online records began in the 2009/10 season.
Greg Adams comes back into the City squad for the second week’s play.
The match resumes from 1.30pm.
