BATHURST District Cricket Association have prided themselves in recent seasons of maintaining an impressive win rate across all Western Zone competitions but their players are aiming to overcome a shaky start to 2018-19 when they play Parkes on Sunday.
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This season hasn’t got off to the brightest of starts for Bathurst who have dropped a Western Zone Premier League game against Dubbo and, in a bigger shock, went down by one wicket to Blue Mountains last Sunday at The Scots School.
This weekend sees the team travel to play Parkes in WZPL – an association still riding a high after their opening round success against Cowra.
Bathurst have made several changes to the team travelling to Woodward Oval.
The biggest inclusions are in-form Centennials Bulls batsmen Andrew Brown and Troy Kenny who have been rewarded for their impressive starts to the BDCA first grade competition.
Brown is no stranger to the Bathurst squad while Kenny will be hoping his club form can carry over to the next level.
There’s been sweeping changes to the bowling line up which takes on a much younger look.
Ben Parsons, Luke Powell, Nic Broes, Ben Mitchell and Tanvir Singh have all been brought into the team to provide a range of youthful options with the ball.
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Bathurst wicketkeeper Imran Qureshi endured both of Bathurst’s defeats and is hopeful he won’t be a part of a third this weekend.
Qureshi said the season has been a test of Bathurst’s cricketing depth.
“The guys coming in are in great form. Browny’s been here before and Troy looked really good against us [Rugby Union] when we played him,” he said.
“Last year and the year before you knew who was going to be here week in, week out and what they could bring to the table. With injuries and people with other commitments it shows the depth of Bathurst cricket.
“There’s guys in here who have been killing it at club level but haven’t had the chance to get into the Bathurst team because of how stable it was. They’re getting their turn now.
“It will be interesting to see how everyone performs. It’s never nice losing a game but the biggest positive from a loss is that you can use it as motivation to try and come back and build upon it.”
Only Qureshi, Jaden Ekert, Mark Day and captain Adam Ryan will back up from the Blue Mountains loss.
Matt Stephen is also back in the Bathurst squad to lead the bowling charge but regular captain Jameel Qureshi remains out with a broken hand.
Sunday’s match gets underway from 10am.