This summer has marked the return of Bathurst-Orange Inter-District Cricket for the first time since the two associations split in 2007 and through five rounds the reinvigorated, combined competition's title race if proving a fierce one.
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Just six points separate first from fifth heading into the new year and after that there's another two sides within touching distance of the top four as well, and even now with just four games remaining all 10 outfits can still mathematically make the finals.
Some will need to do plenty more than others, of course, and there may even be a few outright results necessary for the cellar-dwelling sides to have a sniff, but what specifically will each side need to do to play finals cricket?
1 | ORANGE CITY
- RECORD: Played: 5; Won: 4; Lost: 1; Drawn: 0; Points; 24; Quotient: 2.158
- RUN HOME: City Colts (Wade Park); Kinross (Country Club Oval); Bathurst City (Morse Park 1); CYMS (Wade Park)
The Warriors dominated the opening four rounds of the summer and with that put themselves into the almost-ultimate position of power, but for a disappointing defeat to the Matt Corben-inspired Cavaliers in the final round before Christmas.
Although that loss does raise a few questions in theory it's impossible to treat it as anything but an anomaly and predict them to bounce back in the first game of 2020, against City Colts at Wade Park.
Of their four remaining fixtures that's one of three they'll play in Orange and they also don't play any of the current top four sides in the run home, giving the competition leaders one of the easier paths to the finals series.
With that in mind, barring an absolute disaster you can all but guarantee the Warriors will make the final four.
They'll only need to win two of their remaining four games to lock a spot up and their form so far this summer suggests they'll probably win all four, although their final-round showdown against CYMS looks somewhat of a danger game.
- PREDICTED FINISH: Minor premiers
2 | CAVALIERS
- RECORD: Played: 5; Won: 4; Lost: 1; Drawn: 0; Points: 24; Quotient: 1.672
- RUN HOME: Centennials Bulls (George Park 1); Centrals (Wade Park); Kinross (Kinross Main Oval); Rugby Union (Bathurst Sportsground)
Blew the title race open in many ways by handing Orange City their first defeat of the summer before the Christmas break and deservedly share the competition lead, on points, with the Warriors as a result.
Although they're some way off in terms of quotient the maroons are certainly still an excellent shout for the minor premiership because, simply, they have the easiest run home of any side in the competition and should win all four of their remaining fixtures.
The maroons' first game of 2020 against the fourth-placed Centennials Bulls is the biggest danger and should they win that they'll be almost-unbackable favourites against seventh-placed Centrals, ninth-placed Kinross and then eighth-placed Rugby Union.
Quotient may well the deciding factor in that minor premiership battle and the maroons are some way off Orange City in those terms, but it's pretty much impossible to predict them finishing anywhere but in the top two.
- PREDICTED FINISH: Second
3 | ST PAT'S OLD BOYS
- RECORD: Played: 5; Won: 3; Lost: 1; Drawn: 1; Points: 19; Quotient: 1.583
- RUN HOME: CYMS (Scots All Saints); Bathurst City (Bathurst Sportsground); Centrals (Wade Park); Centennials Bulls (Scots All Saints)
Outside an absolute hammering at the hands of Orange City in round two the Saints have been good, very good, and they deserve to feel a touch unlucky they're not in a share for the competition lead with the Warriors and Cavaliers.
St Pat's Old Boys fifth-round clash against Rugby Union was abandoned and called a draw due to the air quality, or lack thereof, in Bathurst, and they were in a commanding position at the time, so you can only assume they'd have won the game easily.
Naturally, they'll want to win all four of their remaining games and they are a chance to do just that, you'd certainly expect them to beat both Bathurst City and Centrals although the former will pose a big challenge.
They look the better of the sides when matched-up against CYMS and Centennials too, but there's a real sense of something building at the former club, which you'll read about shortly.
We're inclined to predict the Saints winning two of their final four games, which is all they'd need to do to hang onto a top four spot.
- PREDICTED FINISH: Fourth
4 | CENTENNIALS BULLS
- RECORD: Played 5; Won: 3; Lost: 2: Drawn: 0; Points: 18; Quotient: 1.022
- RUN HOME: Cavaliers (George Park 1); CYMS (Riawena Oval); Rugby Union (Bathurst Sportsground); St Pat's Old Boys (Scots All Saints)
The surprise packet of the competition so far, they're effort to hang onto a top four spot so far has been huge considering they didn't even nominate a side initially but they did have one of the easier early-season draws, and they've got a seriously tough run home.
Rugby Union have been incredibly inconsistent so most would predict the Bulls to pick up a win there but outside that, they'll probably start as underdogs in their three other remaining fixtures, even against CYMS who are below them on the table right now.
Playing at home will help against the rampant Cavaliers but Bathurst sides simply don't win at Riawena Oval, so chalk that up as a win to CYMS. St Pat's Old Boys have been strong enough to suggest they'll come out on top in the final round too.
With Blake Aubin seemingly still sidelined it doesn't look particularly likely Centennials will win more than one of their four remaining fixtures, they'll need to win three if they're to make the top four.
Still, they've already surprised everyone, so who's to say they can't do it again in the back half of the summer too?
- PREDICTED FINISH: Sixth
5 | CYMS
- RECORD: Played: 5; Won: 3; Lost: 2; Drawn: 0; Points: 18; Quotient: 0.905
- RUN HOME: St Pat's Old Boys (Scots All Saints); Centennials Bulls (Riawena Oval); City Colts (Loco Oval); Orange City (Wade Park)
There looks to be something building at CYMS, even if their powerful line-up haven't necessarily produced the dominant results they're capable of just yet, there's just a sense of something to come about the green and golds.
Al Dhatt returning is monumental and it simply cannot be overstated how big a coup that is for Hugh Le Lievre's men, who will need to win at least two and hopefully three of their remaining fixtures to ensure they play in the finals.
They'll be desperately hoping their losses to Rugby Union and Cavaliers don't come back to bite them, particularly the former, but they look to have cancelled them out by beating Bathurst City and Centrals before Christmas.
They look the better side when matched-up against Centennials and City Colts but it's tough to predict them beating Orange City in the final round, they're always a chance of course, so CYMS' first game back after the break against St Pat's Old Boys is the crucial one.
If they win that, they won't just make the top four, they'll skip ahead to third.
- PREDICTED FINISH: Third
6 | BATHURST CITY
- RECORD: Played: 5; Won: 2; Lost: 2; Drawn: 1; Points: 13; Quotient: 0.994
- RUN HOME: Centrals (Morse Park 1); St Pat's Old Boys (Bathurst Sportsground); Orange City (Morse Park 1); Kinross (Morse Park 1)
Injuries have hurt Bathurst City a touch and they were unlucky to have their clash against City Colts before Christmas abandoned, although the scorecard would suggest their rivals were actually in the box seat it was still very much in the balance.
Redbacks are chasing their tails now though and they'll need to win three of their four remaining games as a result. You can probably pencil in two victories over Centrals and Kinross, based on the summer so far, but they've not shown a lot to suggest they're capable of beating St Pat's Old Boys or Orange City.
There's power in Redbacks' side but they certainly aren't the all-conquering Bathurst City side of old, although even then who knows how that side would've fared in a combined competition.
Two wins, two losses and a missed finals series, that's the most likely outcome for Bathurst City.
- PREDICTED FINISH: Fifth
7 | CENTRALS
- RECORD: Played: 5; Won; 2; Lost: 3; Drawn: 0; Points: 12; Quotient: 0.648
- RUN HOME: Bathurst City (Morse Park 1); Cavaliers (Wade Park); St Pat's Old Boys (Wade Park); City Colts (Riawena Oval)
So it's not necessary to write it for the next four teams, here's the phrase that applies to all of them - they're mathematically still a finals chance but it's not particularly realistic without a serious turnaround.
Centrals picked up a couple of wins to negate their back-to-back, season-opening losses and the first of those was a good one against a Kinross side which at that point looked capable of being among the better outfits.
But they've been beaten by Orange City, Centennials and CYMS, which does little to suggest they're capable of beating the sides above them in the back half of the season. That sounds harsh, but it's just the way it is.
If the summer pans out as it has so far Centrals should beat City Colts in the final round but they won't beat Cavaliers or St Pat's Old Boys. A win over Bathurst City directly after Christmas seems somewhat unlikely, but if they manage it that could be a catalyst for a remarkable turnaround.
- PREDICTED FINISH: Eighth
8 | RUGBY UNION
- RECORD: Played: 5; Won: 1; Lost: 3; Drawn: 1; Points: 7; Quotient: 0.692
- RUN HOME: Kinross (Kinross Main Oval); City Colts (Loco Oval); Centennials Bulls (Bathurst Sportsground); Cavaliers (Bathurst Sportsground)
They've been enigmatic, the Bulldogs.
Granted they've been hit by injury and have lost players to representative duty as well but they've got a much better roster than their results suggest.
They proved what they're capable of in their round two win over CYMS, they've just not been able to produce anything of that calibre since, they didn't the round before either to be fair.
They've got a genuinely 50-50 run home but even so it doesn't look likely they'll do enough to force their way into the top four. The Bulldogs should beat Kinross and they should beat City Colts, but history suggest they'll be outclassed by Centennials and Cavaliers.
But they could well fire, who knows. And if they win their next two games as expected and then beat Centennials they'd have some serious momentum leading into the final round against Cavaliers, and four straight wins just might lift them into the top four.
Will it happen though? Probably not.
- PREDICTED FINISH: Seventh
9 | KINROSS
- RECORD: Played: 5; Won; 1; Lost; 4; Drawn: 0; Points: 6; Quotient: 0.859
- RUN HOME: Rugby Union (Kinross Main Oval); Orange City (Country Club Oval); Cavaliers (Kinross Main Oval); Bathurst City (Morse Park 1)
Looked pretty bloody good in their opening two games but since then they've been pretty disappointing as a side, but for some great individual performances, particularly from skipper Will Luelf, who's proven why he should've been in the Western Zone colts side.
Boom recruit James Larkin has only played one game since scoring a round two ton against City Colts and if he returns full-time he'll certainly make a difference, but even then they don't look likely to pick up another win.
Their best chance is against Rugby Union in their first game of 2020.
- PREDICTED FINISH: Ninth
10 | CITY COLTS
- RECORD: Played: 5; Won; 0; Lost: 4; Drawn: 1; Points: 1; Quotient: 0.606
- RUN HOME: Orange City (Wade Park); Rugby Union (Loco Oval); CYMS (Loco Oval); Centrals (Riawena Oval)
Injuries have proven City Colts' bane this summer after being branded pre-season favourites, and rightfully so considering their side at full strength boasts names like Toole, Casey, Sellers, Shoemark, Stephen, Henderson, Lawson and Ekert.
Considering those names it seems completely bizarre to predict this side finishing last, but it's tough to do anything but that when you consider the summer so far.
If some of their stars regain fitness in the back end of the summer they could potentially win a game or two, their fixtures against Rugby Union and Centrals look the best chances. A win over Orange City could kick-start something, but they won't play in the finals.
- PREDICTED FINISH: Wooden spoon