Josh Doherty has returned to Orange after an extended cricket trip to Ireland with a bit more than a touch of the blarney.
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He’ll line up Saturday for Orange in the McDonalds Cup clash against Cowra at Country Club oval.
“I played for Merrion cricket club in Dublin. They are in the top league in Ireland. I was lucky to play with two of the Irish (national team) players,” he said.
“I was staying with David Langford-Smith, he is from Orange and John Anderson who is in the Ireland team now.
“I picked up a lot of little things over there that take your game to the next level. The training is very intense.
“We won the All-Ireland which is a 50-over knockout competition for all the clubs across Ireland.”
He said he had gone to Ireland as an all-rounder but had returned being more of a batting all-rounder after concentrating on that side of his game.
Doherty said he didn’t bowl in the Irish first grade but did get some overs in second grade on the “low, slow pitches”.
However, he said his preparations had been interrupted by a few weeks holidaying in Europe and was off his best when he came back to Orange – and fell cheaply in his first game for Cavaliers last Saturday.
“I copped a pretty good ball early on. I was a little bit rusty,” he said.
Doherty said he was stepping up his preparations for the representative clash and club cricket.
“I’m just trying to train hard. I don’t know much about them (Cowra), though Nick Berry, he’s certainly one to watch,” he added.
“My main aim is Cavaliers. They helped me get overseas which is unreal. I really want to repay them and help them win the comp.”
Richie Venner will captain the Orange team in this knockout game which also sees Nathan Rosser return to add strength to the batting lineup. The winner will play Parkes on Sunday.