BEING the only Bathurst team to reach the finals, it should come as no surprise that three St Pat's Old Boys players are among the five players from the city to be named in the Bathurst Orange Inter District Cricket team of the season.
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Saints' double centurion Bailey Brien, all-round star Connor Slattery and veteran paceman Matt Fearnley were joined in the team by Bathurst City's leading batsman Joey Coughlan and City Colts' top bowler Dave Henderson.
The youngest of the bunch, Brien, had an excellent time with the willow in the re-formed BOIDC competition.
The top order batsman was the only Bathurst player to tonne up more than once throughout the season, finding his maiden first grade century against Rugby Union (105) then bettering that effort with an unbeaten 137 against Centennials in the final round of the regular season.
He also made the step up to play for the Bathurst's district team over the season and played a big part in the Saints reaching the preliminary final, before the season was cut short due to the coronavirus.
Brien said it was a delight to be named among the 12 top players for 2019-20.
"It was a nice little reward for the year I've had. I put in a lot of hard work throughout the year and it was good to see that pay off," he said.
"The boys had a great season too. It was just a bit disappointing with the way it all ended. We felt pretty confident and we were playing some great cricket towards the end of the season as a team."
Brien ended the season with 431 runs at an average of 53.88.
"It's definitely been one of my better years so far," Brien said.
"I was a great moment to get my first century in first grade. I've had a few 50s over the years so it was great to crack the triple figures."
Coughlan finished with 446 runs - the most runs by a Bathurst player in the competition.
Slattery came to the fore during his team's win over City Colts, where he hit an unbeaten 152 before taking four wickets in the following innings.
Henderson and Fearnley both finished with averages in the 16s, which made them two of the most devastating pacemen in the competition.
Colts' Henderson achieved the rare feat of back-to-back five wicket games while Pat's man Fearnley claimed competition-best figures of 7-49 in a 10 wicket match haul.
