City’s defeat in the opening round of the Orange Twenty20 competition makes its upcoming game at Wade Park a do-or-die affair.

The Cavaliers team will be somewhat of a mystery for the Redbacks as the Orange club is yet to play a match in the Royal Hotel Cup this season.

Redbacks captain and top scorer from the first round loss, Matt Willis, said his side will continue to use the competition as preparation for the Bathurst District Cricket Association’s upcoming set of Twenty20 fixtures – which are new for 2017-18.

“It’s a bit of a learning curve for us still, playing Twenty20, and we’re still getting used to the style of play. In the first round Orange City beat us comfortably,” he said.

“If we lose this match then our competition is basically done. That puts a bit of pressure on us but it’s all a bit of fun, and it means we get to play something different.”

This will be Redbacks’ last match in the competition before Christmas.

With only two more matches to come following this game – against CYMS and Centrals – the Bathurst club need to make every game count.

Cavaliers have so far won just won of their three matches this Orange District Cricket Association season as the defending champions.

There is still a host of dangerous players in the Orange club to watch out for.

Josh Doherty has bagged first grade century this season and captain Matt Corben will be a major threat with the bat.

Brad Wright also looms as a dangerous all-round option.

“We know a little bit about their rep players but with the combined Bathurst and Orange competition no longer existing it means we know a bit less about the teams than we used to,” Willis said.

Fellow Bathurst club ORC will begin their Royal Hotel Cup campaign shortly after Redbacks.

Their first match against Kinross was washed out, making their new opening game a meeting with CYMS this Wednesday.