TWENTY20 powerhouse Blayney will enter tonight’s opening game of the new-look Royal Hotel Cup knowing there’s very little hope of any easy games this summer.
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Kicking off at Wade Park, the newly formed Blayney Bushrangers will tackle Orange club Wanderers in the first game out of the competition’s pool B group - with CYMS, Orange City and new-comers Lithgow making up the remaining teams in that five-side cluster.
Defending premiers Cavaliers, Centrals, Kinross, Molong and dark-horse Cowra make up the Cup’s pool A.
Blayney’s skipper Nick Bird says there’s little chance his outfit will be able to entertain the idea of a warm-up style game, even against a side that, over the last three seasons, has predominantly plied its trade in the Orange and District Cricket Association second grade premiership.
“We’ve played (Wanderers) a couple of years ago and it was an easy win back then, but two years is a long time, and I’m sure they’re doing a few things differently and have a couple of different players as well,” Bird stressed.
“It’s going to be tough. I think City is going to be the big one for us though.
“And we don’t really know a lot about Lithgow. We’ll be pretty wary of everyone.”
Bird believes the Blayney club’s merging with fellow Bathurst District Cricket Association outfit Bushrangers over winter will provide a number of good young players from both willing parties an opportunity to impress under lights during the season in Orange.
“(The merge) has given us five or six teams, which is good,” Bird said.
“There’s a lot of young guys putting their hand up to play, and this year we’re looking at blooding a few of those guys.
“We’ve made the semis the last couple of years, and we’re just trying to go one better this year.
“We’d love to make the final.”
Boasting a squad with firepower and experience, Wanderers captain Daryl Kennewell believes the secret to his side performing well in Twenty20 cricket was patience.
“There’s a couple of us who’ve played first grade before, and we’ve been telling the boys to remain patient in the first couple of overs ... I think that message is starting to sink in a bit now,” Kennewell said.
Kennewell admitted his side is better suited to the 40-over format of the game, and although a tough year was possible, he’s “still confident” ahead of the season opener tonight, set to begin at 6.30pm.
Friday night will see CYMS tackle Orange City in an all-Orange blockbuster at Wade Park.
BLAYNEY: Nick Bird, Jameel Qureshi, Imran Qureshi, Tim Smith, Brock Gannon, Simon Ewin, Jayden Fuller, Dave Rogerson, Evan Stanbridge, Gavin Farell, Tim Watson, Mick Vawden.
WANDERERS: Daryl Kennewell, Kurt Gander, Brock Duncan, Scott Kennedy, Nick Sharp, Gav Smith, Nathan Gander, Josh Cheney, Jordan Coggins, Peter Thompson, Gareth Faul.
