As he's done so many times in the past Hugh Le Lievre once again lived up to his reputation as one of Orange's great, big-game bats on Saturday, defying injury to score a gritty, unbeaten ton and swing momentum in his side's favour against Centrals.
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A hamstring injury he picked up against Redbacks seven days prior ruled him out of Orange's Western Zone Premier League loss to Dubbo and threatened to sideline him for the opening day of Bathurst-Orange Inter-District Cricket's crucial fifth round too.
But considering the magnitude of the game, in which CYMS can consolidate a top four spot leading into the second half of the summer, Le Lievre made the call to battle through the niggle, it proved the right one as he finished the day unbeaten on 101 and led his side to a more-than-competitive 273.
The ton was his third since linking with CYMS ahead of the 2012-13 summer, of course his other two being those famous, match-defining, grand final centuries in the two following seasons, both of which inspired the side's premiership wins.
Al (Dhatt) has helped me to a couple of tons now ... I think he was more pumped than I was when I got there.
- CYMS skipper Hugh Le Lievre
The second of those, an even 100 as CYMS routed Cavaliers by 267 runs, was as gutsy an effort as Saturday's too, he'd battled illness leading into the game and throughout it as well.
"Being such a big game for the club in terms of the season I wanted to be out there to try and help put us in a position to consolidate that top four spot," Le Lievre said.
"I wouldn't say the injury made me knuckle down more because I think I'm a pretty determined batsman anyway, if anything the wickets falling at the other end probably did help my determination.
"It was nice to get a few away because I feel like I've been hitting it really well ... but, typical of me, I've been finding ways to get myself out."
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Le Lievre made a point of highlighting how important the efforts of tail-enders Gus Wilson and Al Dhatt were, not just to him passing triple figures but to the green and golds' performance as a whole.
Le Lievre came to the Jack Brabham 2 crease at 3-104 but watched another five wickets fall reasonably quickly at the other end as the side slumped to a precarious 8-224, he was unbeaten on 64 at that point.
He moved to 78 as Wilson (1) dug in long enough to add another 16 for the ninth wicket before Al Dhatt (10) held up his end for nine crucial sets. He helped guide Le Lievre to his ton and the pair added another 33 for the final wicket.
In fact, the dig shares eerie similarities to the first of Le Lievre's grand final tons. He finished with 119 in that game and it was Dhatt, who also made 10 in that innings, that guided him past triple figures in another crucial, 46-run, last-wicket stand.
"Al has helped me to a couple of tons now and just like that last one I think he was more pumped than I was when I got there," Le Lievre said.
"I guess it was just my day in a way and I think the fact we were able to take a couple of quick wickets (to leave Centrals 2-36 in reply) at the end was proof it was our day as a team, we'll just have to back that up next weekend now because a win is important to our season."
Cavaliers skipper Matt Corben continued his remarkable exploits with the bat on Saturday too, as he plundered his second ton of the summer on Saturday afternoon to carry the maroons to a reasonably-competitive total of 238. Orange City are 0-46 in reply.
Already the competition's leading run-scorer leading into the opening day of the fifth round, Corben banged out 101 in a 152-ball, three-hour stint at the Wade Park crease, continuing his stunning, almost Steve Smith-like run of form.
Incredibly, he's yet to fail in the reinvigorated, combined competition. The ton follows his efforts of 92, 176 and 89 in the fourth, third and second rounds respectively, and he didn't bat against St Pat's Old Boys in round one as he was away on representative duty.
His 458 runs this summer have now come at a ridiculous average of 114.50 and he tops the run-scoring list despite batting fewer times than the other nine inside the top 10 on that list.
Bailey Brien (105) and Connor Slattery (86) combined to lead their third-placed St Pat's Old Boys to a whopping 6-308 after being sent in by Rugby Union.
Of the weekend's other best-performed bats St Pat's Old Boys' Bailey Brien celebrated his first top grade ton with a superb dig of 105 against Rugby Union, while Connor Slattery also made 86 for the Saints.
Kinross sit precariously at 3-54 in reply to Centennials' 172 at the school's Main Oval while in the other round five clash the winless City Colts are in the box seat. After making 210, they picked up two late wickets leaving Bathurst City to resume at 2-36 on day two.
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Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
