Parkes has a round one bye on Saturday before taking on Cowra on Sunday, a clash Heragthy will miss.

Along with the absence of the destructive Western Zone opening batsman, Parkes is also minus veterans Phil Dunford and Peter Yelland.

Take that trio out of any side in the zone and there’s a massive hole in every first XI, but Heraghty believes Parkes is adept at covering for such losses.

Yelland has a broken thumb and won’t be available for Parkes until the Grinsted Cup season in the new year.

While Dunford’s metronome-like opening bowling spells are now a thing of the past after the giant Western Zone quick retired from cricket.

Heraghty said his side’s first-up clash with Cowra, an association Parkes has joined forces with this summer to boost both regular first grade cricket competitions on Saturdays, was the ideal way to kick-off the summer as more responsibility lands on the shoulders of Myles Smith, Jacob Harvey and Brent Tucker.

“It’s been a pretty good off-season. We’ve been training for a month now,” he said.

“It’s good to have the buy straight up, that extra day to get ready will work well for us. We’re looking forward to taking it on.

Heraghty is arguably the most important batsmen in any side this rep season. He’ll miss Sunday’s opener but will be back for Parkes’ home clash with Dubbo on October 22.

It’s a match Parkes isn’t expected to win, but one Heraghty says his side is more than capable of springing an upset in.

“Anyone on their day can beat Dubbo and Bathurst. If everyone turns up it’s a flip of the coin. Cricket’s a funny game,” Heragthy said.

“You need a bit of luck. Everyone has the ability, in our side.”

The Parkes skipper and selector believes starting well will be key to knocking over a Cowra line-up boasting some serious zone firepower.

Mick Curtale, Berry brothers Tim and Nick and Brendan Traves are all expected to play Sunday’s game. “The start’s always the key. We’re missing a good handful of players, so we’ll be a bit light on in the batting but a few others are going to have to stand-up,” he said.

Heraghty labelled the likes of Myles Smith, Zac Baylis and Brent Tucker as players that will rise to the challenge.

“Tucker has been a bit of a spearhead for us, and with no Phil down the other end I reckon he’s in for a bit year,” he added. “Jacob Harvey is looking forward to the year as well.”

Parkes takes on Cowra at Woodward Oval from 10am on Sunday.