SUNDAY might not have been the most clinical day of cricket for Bathurst's Rod Hartas Trophy side but a solid day in the field paved the way for the defending champions' round one victory.
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Bathurst claimed a six wicket victory over Blue Mountains as they chased down the target of 87 in the space of 21 overs, with a couple of stumbles along the way.
But the young Bathurst squad never looked in serious danger during the chase.
Bathurst's Ben Cant (32) scored just shy of a run a ball in his strong stint as opening batsman while Hugh Parsons was on the money with the ball in hand as he claimed 3-18 off his seven overs.
Winning co-captain Andrew Brown said with such a young Bathurst team at his disposal it's almost worth changing things up to try and develop junior talent as much as possible.
"We want to give everyone a bit of experience and exposure to high level cricket," he said.
"This team's actually younger than our St Pat's team. They've all got a lot of potential and were picked in this team for a reason. We just want to send them on the right path.
"Everyone chipped in with a wicket today. Hugh was probably the pick of the bowlers but everyone played some sort of part in the game, which was really good to see."
Bathurst got the day off to a great start by removing opener Max Bragg (6) off the bowling of Tom Lynch, then Parsons removed Blue Mountains captain Tom Tziavaras for a golden duck.
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Remaining opener Aaron Long (16) tried his best to hang around for a long time while others fell around him but his demise left the visitors in an awkward spot at 5-40.
If not for the efforts further down the order of Michael Emmanuel (24) then the situation could have been even more dire for Blue Mountains.
Jack Bragg (10) was the only other player for Blue Mountains to record double figures in an innings dominated by the whole Bathurst attack.
All five bowlers picked up at least one wicket.
Jacob Ryan (2-25) was the other Bathurst bowler to pick up more than one wicket.
Cant got the Bathurst chase off to a great start, seeing to ball well and working deliveries to all corners of the ground.
Bathurst had a few hiccups along the way as some impatience crept into the batting order but Tom Judge (20), Ethan Muller (11) and Hamish Siegert (10) got the hosts home.
Jack Bragg was a bright spot in an otherwise dismal day for Blue Mountains as he finished with 3-21 from his full compliment of 10 overs.
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Alexander Grant
Part of the Western Advocate's sports desk in Bathurst.
Part of the Western Advocate's sports desk in Bathurst.
