The last thing Orange City wants is to replicate its dismal start to the 2016-17 season this summer, the Warriors didn’t taste victory until after Christmas and it left them chasing their tails in the back end of the year.
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Things were shaping up well for the Warriors – a settled playing group, a good pre-season and a summer-opening Royal Hotel Cup win – leading into their Orange District Cricket Association opener on Saturday too but now, just like that, they’re behind the eight-ball.
The Warriors have lost skipper Craig Rogan to injury and are without regulars Ben Findlay, Jock Cartwright, Brett Causer and Dave Boundy for some, or all, of the season’s first two-day game as well.
“We do have a few out, a few substitutes and unfortunately Bull (Rogan) hurt his back at training on Tuesday night so no, it’s certainly not ideal going into the first game,” stand-in Orange City skipper Ed Morrish, who gets his first chance to lead the side, said.
“But we have guys coming into the side who we’re confident will get the job done and have plenty of first grade cricket under their belts, like Pat Giuffre and Joey Kay.
“They’ve played a bit more cricket than us too, in the lower grades, so won’t have as many cobwebs to blow out.
“We know now, after last season, how important these early games of cricket can be so we’d love to hit the ground running this summer, so we’re not chasing our tails come February and March.”
Morrish vice-captained the Warriors last summer as well, but didn’t get the opportunity to take the reins.
It’s a new challenge for him, he said, but one he’s looking forward to. His maiden appearance as skipper comes against his old club too, CYMS.
The green and golds are coming off an ultimately comfortable win over Centrals, thanks largely to Mitch Winslade’s half-ton and Peter Gott’s five-wicket haul.
“Captaining will be a bit of a challenge but I’m pretty excited for it, the one game Bull missed last year I was away too,” he said.
“From what I’ve heard CYMS’ bowling performance last week was pretty red-hot. I know they were five-for-not-many and Mitch dug them out of that hole, but they’ve always bowled really well and that got them home.
“We’ve had some issues making big scores in the past so that’s obviously our focus, we know we can bowl teams out.
“We just need to get some runs on the board.”
Day one of the Warriors’ clash with CYMS starts at 1pm on Saturday at Country Club Oval and continues the following week.
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
