St Pat’s went down in the opening round to defending premiers Rugby Union by six wickets in the opening round, in what was a grand final match. 

And skipper Adam Ryan said his side’s bowling will need improvement if they want to get the win against Bathurst City on Saturday. 

“What let us down in our first game was definitely our bowling. We just didn’t bowl it out tighter to our field,” he said. 

“We batted out our overs, but it would be nice to score a few more runs. Whatever the score is at the end of that day, we’ve got to back our bowlers to bowl to that target. Last game they didn’t.”

Ryan’s side will have to be switched on when they play Redbacks, who snagged an impressive win over City Colts in the first round. 

“Every time you drive past the sportsground, Redbacks are always down there training, putting in the hard work,” he said.

“They’ve got some young, talented kids coming through. It’ll make for a different encounter. But it’s one we’re looking forward to.

“After hearing the news that they chanced down 230-odd against Colts, that was a good effort.” 

Ryan said making the grand final back in March gave his side plenty of confidence as team.

He’s hoping the team can carrying it on this season. 

“We grew as cricket players, playing in that grand final,” he said. 

“We do have a young squad, but we’ll have see how far we can go together.”

St Stanislaus’ College and Scots All Saints College will both play their opening round fixtures of the new ISA division one matches on Saturday, meaning the St Pat’s squad on the same day will be affected.

It’ll be a common issue throughout the 2018-19 campaign, but thankfully St Pat’s are well backed by two second grade teams. 

“Our team will be consistently changing all year, with different representative carnivals and school,” Ryan said. 

“When school cricket isn’t on, it’ll be full strength as possible. We’re fortunate to have the two great second grade, giving the new kids a chance to play first grade as well.”

Saturday’s game will be played at the Bathurst Sportsground, for a 1.30pm start.