The Mitchell Cricket Council junior competition is set to return to action this Sunday and two Bathurst teams are looking to make it a perfect season.
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The under 14s and under 16s remain undefeated, going into their final round of matches this weekend.
Bathurst under 14s co-coach Wal Brien said his team’s match against Orange Gold will be a tough game.
“Orange Gold (players) are in their last year of under 14s and we’re only in our first, so Orange are strong favourites,” Brien said.
“Saying that, we’ll do reasonably well and do our best to beat them.
“It’s a crucial game and we’re missing key players.”
While Brien is confident both Bathurst and Orange Gold will be in the final, he said anything can happen,
“Cricket is a funny thing,” he added.
Brien highlighted Hamish Siegert, Cooper Brien and Declan Fawkner as some of the stars with the bat this season, while Tom Lynch and Harry Field have dominated with the ball.
“All the boys are valuable members of the team,” Brien said.
“Our targets for Sunday are to bat out our 50 overs and it’s important for us to bowl our lines and take our catches.”
Brien is expecting a hard game in the heat, with the temperature to nudge 40 degrees Celsius.
The under 14s game will be played at George Park (1), with play to commence at 10am.
Bathurst under 16s are in a similar situation to their 14s counterparts – playing an undefeated Orange team for the minor premiership.
Bathurst under 16s coach Shane Broes said his team are looking forward to the challenge ahead of them.
“It’s always a good game against Orange and we’re playing for top spot, so there’ll be some bragging rights there,” he said.
“We’re pretty lucky because we have an all-round, talented team and everyone knows their roles.
“We don’t want to look too fair ahead. We’ll just focus on getting top spot for now, in case of a wash-out.”
The under 16s game will be played at Morse Park (1), with play to commence at 10am.
Under 12s play a must-win match in the penultimate round of the competition against Orange at Brooke Moore Oval.
Bathurst has won two games from four and sits outside of the top two positions to qualify for the final.
The last time Bathurst played Orange this season, Orange won by 48 runs on November 6.
Orange is currently undefeated, having won all four games and will take out the minor premiership and hosting rights for the final with a win over Bathurst.
Blake Kreuzberger has scored 54 runs while Cooper Grenfell has five wickets this season.
