We're into the penultimate round of the Bathurst Orange Inter District Cricket competition and there's finals spots on the line and things are heating up.

Even this deep into the competition we're starting to learn a lot about the 10 teams in the competition and how some of them handle the pressure and how any runs - no matter where they come from - are so important.

Here's five things we learned from the opening day of the eighth round of the BOIDC competition.

It's so difficult to find a dud game for the Centennials Bulls bowling attack, who added another strong day to their resumes during Saturday's meeting with Rugby Union.

The Sportsground wasn't playing many tricks and the Rugby top order took advantage by getting out to a strong start with the bat.

But when Rugby looked like they could run away with it the Bulls bowlers brought them back down to earth.

Mick Hutchinson and Kurt Toole combined for eight wickets between them, and every bowlers on the team has put their hand up at some stage this season.

It's a major reason why the team is currently sitting third on the ladder - that feeling that any bowler has the potential to strike at any moment.

Bulls have plenty of variety in their attack with the likes of Kyle Aubin, Ryan Gurney and rising star Blake Kreuzberger also ready to roll the arm over.

Nothing gets the blood pumping like brotherly squabbles, and the Cumming brothers are no different.

After dismissing Angus in the Royal Hotel Cup several weeks ago and then turning up for Orange to take hauls of wickets, younger brother George arguably had bragging rights over Angus heading into their BOIDC clash this weekend.

Well, well, well, how the table has turned.

Angus bowled brother George for a second-ball duck and we're calling this a rightful win for older siblings everywhere who need to put pesky younger siblings back into line. Forget George's higher wicket tally for the season, forget any representative selections: Angus is back on top in the Brotherly Power Rankings.

Well, for now.

We can't wait to see George have a bowl next week after this gee-up. The pride of younger siblings everywhere rests on him and him alone (no pressure, Georgie boy).

He may bowl offies but the smart money is on the young fella sending down a Qais Ahmad-esque bouncer and then doing a flip if (when?) he he gets him out.

We'll get this out of the way early: safety is important and you should always wear a helmet while batting. Always. If you spent your junior years batting in helmets, just keep them on - you're used to it.

The only exception to this rule is cricket's senior citizens when they face spin. Dave Neil whipped out a hat in the Royal Hotel Cup when Jameel Qureshi and Connor Slattery were going from either end and it was glorious.

He then pulled it out again in Bathurst on Saturday on his way to making 87, and we were convinced he's won cricket this round.

Nothing looks better than batting in a cap.

Well, except one thing - batting in a floppy hat.

When the photo of Daryl Kennewell walking off the ground with floppy hat in hand slid across the sports desk, it was like a sacred artifact. Nic Maddinson did it earlier in the week for Victoria (on Valentine's Day no less), and Dazza tried to one-up him at Wade Park and to be honest we'd be tempted to give Centrals first-innings points for that alone.

Not that anyone who's had half an interest in cricket didn't know this, but this weekend showed how important batting with the tail is.

From back to Steve Waugh batting with the tail right through to Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson doubling the side's score, Australians have always been good at batting right down to number 11. Well, except when Glenn McGrath was there, but that's beside the point.

Orange City carried the tradition on most clearly this weekend, with the side going from 4-42 and 6-91 to eventually post 254 in a scorecard which would look more correct upside-down.

Nos. 7 through to 10 Nathan Rosser (60), Andrew Gordon (56), Ben Findlay (34) and Jarryd Seib (24 not out) showed the benefit of having a tail which wags, which would have endlessly frustrated Bathurst City.

Not to be outdone, Centrals skipper Daryl Kennewell hit 88 not out from number eight to lift his side from a sub-150 score to 239.

We're not sure what it is, but the past few weeks CYMS has been off the boil.

Last match they struggled to hit runs on Riawena Oval, and on Friday night they crashed out of the Royal Hotel Cup semi-final despite being unbeaten during their group games.

On paper, they've got one of the best sides in the BOIDC - both Hugh and Angus Le Lievre, the spin twins of Al Dhatt and Chris Novak, Dave Neil - finally back in form after 87 this weekend.

Tom Belmonte started like a house on fire for 2019-20 but has since found a slump - what's happening down at camp green and gold? In the club's 75^th anniversary, finals was a minimum with many former stars - Le Lievre, Dhatt, Neil among them - coming back into the fold.

It's looking increasingly likely the side might not get there.