After taking part in last season’s Twenty20 tournament, Warry’s Redbacks have again joined the Orange District Cricket Association’s flagship competition ahead of the 2017-18 summer.

But this season they won’t be alone, with fellow Bathurst clubs Centennial Bulls and ORC also nominating.

Along with defending champions Lithgow Lightning and the five ODCA first grade clubs, this season’s Royal Hotel Cup will be fought out among nine teams from across the region.

And Warry says, if there was another ground of the calibre of Wade Park in the region, the Royal Hotel Cup has the potential to be a central west-wide tournament.

“Definitely, I think there is (potential there),” he said, throwing it out there for the likes of Cowra, Parkes and some Dubbo clubs to get involved.

“The more the merrier, I think.”

Warry said there has been a push to get sufficient lighting to run a similar competition of an evening – the first ball of a Royal Hotel Cup game is bowled at 6.30pm on Friday nights - at the Bathurst Sportsground.

But those attempts have been futile. 

“We’ve been trying for years to get that up and running,” he added.

The draw for this summer’s tournament was confirmed during the week, with Bathurst City to take on Orange City on Friday, October 13, in the cup opener.

Warry said playing different sides, like the Warriors, at a different venue was the attraction behind again being part of the Friday night competition.

“That, and playing under lights. There’s not many cricketers around that get that chance. It’s a good venue. Hopefully we’ll give it a good crack this season,” he said.

With a place in the finals on the line, the Redbacks fell to Lithgow, the Lightning chasing down the Bathurst club’s 6-174 with seven wickets left in the shed.

“We were confident of beating them but a few big hitters came out and got us,” Warry said, Todd Costello (69) and Ryan Gurney (80 not out) firing in the chase.

Warry said he expected the Bathurst City line-up, which will again be captained Matt Willis, to include the likes of Trent Hemsworth, Clint Moxon, Joey Coughlan, Dicky Carter, Greg Adams.

“We’ll be sending basically our first grade side,” he said.

While the Centennial Bulls boast arguably the most destructive Twenty20 player in the zone in the form of Josh Toole. Aaron Seymour is another representative-calibre player at the Bulls club.

ORC takes on Kinross in its opening game on October 20, while the Bulls kick start its Twenty20 campaign against Centrals a week late.

Lithgow won last year’s tournament and will begin its title defence against Centrals on November 3.

This year’s finals are top four, with the grand final to be played on March 2.