BATHURST’s under 14s Mitchell Cricket Council team handled a treacherous Lithgow pitch with composure on Sunday to complete an emphatic 10-wicket win over an under strength home side.
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To say the pitch was a bowler’s paradise would be an understatement.
Bathurst won the toss, made the easiest decision of their lives to send the hosts into bat, then steam rolled a Lithgow squad who had to bring several under 12s players up to fill positions.
Inconsistent bounce played into the hands of a classy Bathurst bowling attack who rolled the Lithgow team for just 27 runs, 10 of which were sundries.
Angus Parsons’ number of wickets outweighed the number of runs he gave away. He finished with 3-2 off five overs.
Calvin Windus also claimed three wickets for the visitors.
Lithgow opener Mitch Wallace deserves big wraps on a disastrous day for his side.
He hit 12 runs off a gritty 87 ball innings, going within one wicket of carrying his bat.
Openers Aidan Lindsay (14) and Flynn Taylor (12) survived a couple of scares to reach the total.
Bathurst coach Craig Windus said it wasn’t a fun day to be a batsman.
“The pitch was pretty underdone. There was a fair bit of grass on it and it was fairly uneven. It didn’t look like a heavy roller had been put on it,” he said.
“There were a lot of balls popping or shooting off the ground. They had four under 12s playing and they wouldn’t have played on turf much – especially a pitch that’s going to do a lot of things like that one.”
Windus said the score board reflects badly on a Lithgow team caught out by a nasty pitch.
“Probably five of the wickets we got were because guys were pushing forward when the ball would pop up and it would lead to easy catches in front of the wicket,” he said.
“It’s good experience for our guys though because they’ve got to learn instead of trying to bowl fast you got to be accurate, because as soon as you’re a bit short the ball sits up.”
Several players opted to stay back following the match to play a casual game between combined Bathurst-Lithgow teams, giving everyone the chance to get some extra experience under their belts.
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