A SUPER spell from Connor Slattery and a strong start with the bat from Jeremy Russell has put St Pat’s in the box seat after the opening day of their Bathurst District Cricket Association match against a depleted Centennials Bulls.
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Slattery picked up 4-7 from his eight overs as Pat’s bowled out Bulls for 138 at Morse Park 1.
Pat’s are currently on 1-78 in their chase, with Russell (57 not out) smashing 11 boundaries so far in his innings.
Saints captain Brendon Cutmore said Saturday’s performance continues the strong end to the season for his squad.
“I don’t think it’s any secret that we’ve been playing some good cricket since Christmas. It’s been wonderful to watch,” he said.
“We won the toss and made the decision to bowl, knowing that they had a few of their key players out, and it paid dividends for us. The game was still even at the first drinks break at 2-54 but we made a commitment at that point to make the next session ours.”
That’s exactly what Pat’s did when shortly after they removed Brett Archer for 31.
The big wicket for Pat’s was that of opener Blake Aubin (38), who was threatening to put on a handy score, but his dismissal at the hands of Matt Fearnley put a dent in the Bulls’ innings.
His departure left the score at 5-90 and from that point on Slattery began to take the middle and lower order apart.
Slattery’s spell included three maidens, two of which contained wickets.
Nic Broes (13) and Russell got the Saints off to a solid start with the willow until Aaron Seymour struck.
Bulls spearhead Seymour had enjoyed a strong run of overs in the lead up to his dismissal of Broes but it remained the sole wicket the Bulls could find before the rain arrived.
Derryn Clayton (2 not out) is the other batsman out in the middle for Pat’s.
Cutmore said the two standout Saints performances shouldn’t cloud the strong efforts from the entire squad.
“Connor was excellent but the innings was set up very well by Bailey Webber, who bowled great, as did Ben Mitchell. It was a great day for all three of the young bowlers,” he said.
“Jeremy Russell was looking great in the middle and it's a shame we lost the last hour of play because Aaron Seymour was surely getting towards the end of his spell, and he’s such a great bowler.
“We’ve given ourselves every chance to win this game. It will be a great learning experience for the young guys next week when they get to play a good full, hard day of cricket.”
Pat’s will take to the field on Monday for the BDCA Monday Twenty20 final against Rugby Union.
