MOVE over Trem the Octopus, there’s a new predicting phenom in town.
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As Cricki Leaks exclusively tipped at the beginning of the Orange District Cricket Association season, Andrew “The Voice” Rutledge has made a glorious return, full time we expect, to first grade cricket just in time for the 2013-14 grand final.
Throw a wig on the man and hand him a mic, Rutledge has been the beneficiary of a chain reaction-like run of events to storm into the Warriors first XI for the biggest game of the season and is in line for the dare-to-dream moment of the year.
Should Rutledge be part of another Warriors premiership win, Cricki Leaks has a little faith there will be another tear-filled retirement speech in the arms of best friend Shaun Churchill at the end of it all.
Rutledge is, however, a smart pick by captain Matt Findlay.
A trusty right-arm pacer, he’ll no doubt burn for you, Findlay, in a team full of left-arm quicks as Orange City bids for back-to-back first grade premierships.
No ordinary world at Orange City, Rutledge’s ability to land willingly in the club’s second grade, Royal Hotel Cup, lower grade Twenty20 and first grade sides at any given time throughout the course of the season is the touch of paradise every cricketer dreams of.
That’s freedom.
GRAND final week means one thing and one thing only to Cricki Leaks - duck season.
And this game, like no other, quacks like Gordon Bombay down eight cans of red bull.
To tickle the memory banks, two of the last three ODCA first grade grand finals have had players notch-up double ducks (ducks in first and second innings), with Chris Hutchinson (Centrals, 2010-11) and Dave Neil (CYMS, 2012-13) a cosy two-man club.
Cricki Leaks boldly predicted in October two players would join the double duck club this summer.
Given the only thing ducks like better than cricketers is the rain, this fearless prediction will happen on a damp Wade Park track this weekend.
It’s a given.
